Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Transplant. Dec 24, 2017; 7(6): 276-284
Published online Dec 24, 2017. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v7.i6.276
Biomarkers and a tailored approach for immune monitoring in kidney transplantation
Francisco Salcido-Ochoa, John Carson Allen Jr
Francisco Salcido-Ochoa, Tregs and HLA Research Force, Francisco Kidney and Medical Centre, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore 329563, Singapore
John Carson Allen Jr, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 169856, Singapore
Author contributions: Both Salcido-Ochoa F and Allen JC Jr wrote and revised the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest between the authors or the participating institutions, and the authors do not have any financial relationships to disclose. The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and attach to the ideology of the Tregs and HLA Research Force, but might or not reflect their other scientific affiliations. The recommendations and suggestions presented by the authors are mainly aimed to inspire scientific reflections and serve as prototype for future clinical guidelines of biomarker research in kidney transplantation. The authors can be contacted for scholarly discussions, suggestions or corrections.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Francisco Salcido-Ochoa, MD, MRCP, MSc, PhD, Consultant Nephrologist and Transplant Immunologist, Tregs and HLA Research Force, Francisco Kidney and Medical Centre, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, 38 Irrawaddy Road, Singapore 329563, Singapore. fsalcidoochoa@gmail.com
Telephone: +65-66906814 Fax: +65-66906828
Received: May 17, 2017
Peer-review started: May 23, 2017
First decision: July 20, 2017
Revised: October 16, 2017
Accepted: November 22, 2017
Article in press: November 22, 2017
Published online: December 24, 2017
Abstract

A literature review on immune monitoring in kidney transplantation produced dozens of research articles and a multitude of promising biomarkers, all in the quest for the much sought after - but perennially elusive - “holy grail” of kidney biomarkers able to unequivocally predict acute transplant rejection vs non-rejection. Detection methodologies and study designs were many and varied. Hence the motivation for this editorial, which espouses the notion that in today’s kidney transplantation milieu, the judicious use of disease classifiers tailored to specific patient immune risks may be more achievable and productive in the long run and confer a greater advantage for patient treatment than the pursuit of a single “omniscient” biomarker. In addition, we desire to direct attention toward greater scrutiny of biomarker publications and decisions to implement biomarkers in practice, standardization of methods in the development of biomarkers and consideration for adoption of “biomarker-driven” biopsies. We propose “biomarker-driven” biopsies as an adjunctive to and/or alternative to random surveillance (protocol) biopsies or belated indication biopsies. The discovery of a single kidney transplantation biomarker would represent a major breakthrough in kidney transplantation practice, but until that occurs - if ever it does occur, other approaches offer substantial potential for unlocking prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic options. We conclude our editorial with suggestions and recommendations for productively incorporating current biomarkers into diagnostic algorithms and for testing future biomarkers of acute rejection in kidney transplantation.

Keywords: Acute rejection, Banff classification, Biomarker, Human leukocyte antigen matching, Immune monitoring, Immunological risk, Kidney transplantation, Protocol biopsy

Core tip: In kidney transplantation, a multitude of biomarkers have been proposed to predict transplant rejection vs non-rejection, but few - if any - have gained acceptance as reliable tools for predicting rejection. However, an approach more likely to be successful would include improved timing of kidney transplant biopsies and judicious use of multiple diagnostic methodologies based on different immune risks and events throughout transplantation. This approach could also aid in improving diagnostic and prognostic kidney transplantation algorithms and in developing more impactful therapeutic options.