Australian researchers have made a breakthrough genetic discovery that could improve the long-term success of kidney transplants.
Despite reductions in acute rejection, long-term organ survival in kidney transplantation patients has not improved, meaning many patients will need more than one kidney transplant in their lives.
But now scientists in Australia and the US have developed a genetic test that could detect patients at high risk of organ rejection.
The collaborative study, published in journal The Lancet, led by researchers at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research has identified a set of 13 genes that can independently predict the development of kidney fibrosis, a major cause of kidney transplant loss, within three months of transplantation.
Currently, diagnostic techniques can only identify kidney dysfunction, but by this time irreversible damage from fibrosis has developed.
By identifying high risk patients early on new treatments can be introduced before any organ damage occurs, says lead author Professor Phillip O'Connell.
In Australia, kidney-related disease kills more people each year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, or even road traffic accidents.
There were more than 900 kidney transplants performed in 2015.
Prof O'Connell says the identification of these genes, through the use of cutting-edge technology, is an important step forward in improving long-term outcomes for kidney transplantation patients.
"If you can identify after three months who is at risk, you can tailor treatments to increase kidney survival rates," Prof O'Connell said.
The next step for the researchers is to test their predictive tool in clinical trials that are about five years away, he said.
