Liver transplantation (LT) provides a life-saving option for cirrhotic patients with complications and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite the increasing number of liver transplants performed each year, the number of LT candidates on the waitlist remains unchanged due to an imbalance between donor organ supply and the demand which increases the waitlist time and mortality. Living donor liver transplant had a great role in increasing the donor pool and shortened waitlist time for LT candidates. Nevertheless, further strategies can be implemented to increase the pool of potential donors in deceased donor LT, such as reducing the rate of organ discards. Utilizing hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositive liver grafts is one of the expanded donor organ criteria. A yearly increase of hundreds of transplants is anticipated as a result of maximizing the utilization of HCV-positive organs for HCV-negative recipients. Direct-acting antiviral therapy's efficacy has revolutionized the treatment of HCV infection and the use of HCV-seropositive donors in transplantation. The American Society of Transplantation advises against performing transplants from HCV-infected liver donors (D+) into HCV-negative recipient (R-) unless under Institutional Review Board-approved study rules and with full informed consent of the knowledge gaps associated with such transplants. Proper selection of patients to be transplanted with HCV-infected grafts and confirming their access to direct-acting antivirals if needed is important. National and international consensuses are needed to regulate this process to ensure the maximum benefit and the least adverse events.

Background: Acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is an uncommon complication after ABO-compatible liver transplantation (LT). This case series investigated the clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes of acute AMR in LT recipients with autoimmune liver disease (ALD). Patients and Methods: Among 809 patients who underwent LT from January 2014 to December 2020, four ALD patients developed AMR, which was confirmed based on clinical features, histopathology of liver biopsy, donor-specific antibodies (DSA) or panel reactive antibody (PRA) level. Therapies were individualized based on clinical manifestations. Results: The incidence of acute AMR was 0.49%, and the incidence of acute AMR with ALD and non-ALD recipients was 11.1% and 0%, respectively. Three patients had strongly positive HLA class II DSA, and one patient was with the PRA class I and II sensitivities, which were >80%; complement component 4d (C4d) staining was negative in all patients. The first patient underwent re-LT, and the other three patients had good prognoses with treatments. Conclusions: ALD patients are prone to acute AMR after LT, thus should be kept vigilant against the occurrence of acute AMR.

Corticosteroids has been the mainstay of immunosuppression (IMS) following liver transplant (LT). With the advent of more potent IMS, complete steroid withdrawal has become possible after LT. However, there is limited data regarding the incidence and risk factors for acute cellular rejection (ACR) in LT recipients on steroid sparing regimens.

To identify the incidence and risk factors of ACR in LT recipients at an urban LT center utilizing a steroid-sparing IMS regimen.

This was a single center retrospective study evaluating incidence of ACR in adults (>18 years) who received a LT between 01/01/2008 and 6/30/2019 at a steroid-sparing liver transplant center. Data between patients who had ACR and patients who did not were compared and risk factors were identified by multivariate logistic linear regression.

A total of 266 patients were included in this analysis, of which 18.4% experienced ACR within the first year of LT. Median time to first ACR was 134 (interquartile range [IQR]: 34-246) days. Black race (odds ratio [OR]: 4.39, P < 0.001), continued need for prednisone (OR: 2.80, P = 0.015) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia (OR: 6.27, P < 0.001)) were independent risk factors for ACR. Tacrolimus use was associated with less ACR (OR: 0.33, P = 0.013).

Steroid sparing regimens for IMS post-LT were not associated with an increased incidence of ACR when compared to reported ACR rates in literature. Potential risk factors for ACR include Black race, the use of prednisone maintenance IMS therapy, and CMV viremia.

Early acute rejection (EAR) is a common complication after liver transplantation (LT).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and risk factors of EAR in donation after cardiac death (DCD) liver transplantation recipients.

We retrospectively analysed the data of 461 DCD liver transplants performed during the period from January 2010 to June 2016 to study the relationship between EAR and various clinical factors. EAR was defined as histologically proven acute cellular rejection occurring less than 90 days after transplantation.

The median follow-up time for this study was 33.1 months (range: 0.03-92.8 months). Thirty-two (6.9%) patients developed EAR with a median period of 20.5 days (5-88 days) after transplantation. A multivariate analysis revealed that female recipient (hazard ratio: 2.801; P=0.024) and high recipient body mass index (BMI) (hazard ratio: 1.005; P=0.049) were two independent risk factors for early acute rejection.

In DCD liver transplantation, recipient female gender and high BMI were associated with a higher incidence of EAR, while the use of CD25-Ab and/or MMF had a protective effect.

We compared achievement rate of sufficient tacrolimus blood concentration in the early postoperative period and incidence of acute cellular rejection within 1 month after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) between tacrolimus intravenous (IV) and oral administration groups.

From October 2005 to November 2016, 61 LDLT patients administered tacrolimus, who could be genotyped for CYP3A5*3 and *1, were chosen from the electronic record database. The patients were then divided into the 2 groups (an IV group [n = 38] and an oral group [n = 23]). We defined patients with 1*1 or *1*3 as expressors and those with *3*3 as nonexpressors. Sufficient trough level tacrolimus blood concentration on postoperative day (POD) 3 was defined as 10-20 ng/mL.

Comparable concentrations were seen between the 2 groups, with mean blood concentration 13.7 ± 8.5 ng/mL in the oral group and 15.2 ± 4.3 ng/mL in the IV group. Achievement rate of sufficient tacrolimus concentration on POD 3 was significantly higher in the IV group than in oral group: 97% (37 of 38) vs 65% (15 of 23), respectively (P = .001). When we focused on achievement rate in the oral group according to CYP3A5 polymorphism, the frequency of expressors (17%) was significantly lower than that of nonexpressors (82%) (P = .016). However, in the IV group this negative influence was totally eliminated, resulting in high achievement rates regardless of CYP3A5 polymorphism. In terms of incidence of acute cellular rejection, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups (IV 32% vs oral 17%, P = .250).

IV administration of tacrolimus allowed us to obtain more stable control of blood concentration regardless of CYP3A5 genotype.