EVALUATION OF BETA2-MICROGLOBULIN AS AN INDICATOR OF EARLY GRAFT DYSFUNCTION IN KIDNEY RECIPIENTS FROM LIVING DONORS

Early detection of allograft dysfunction is important for the evaluation of postoperative outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trend of changes in serum Creatinine (sCr) and Beta2-microglobulin (B2M) in kidney recipients (KRs) from living donors.

Blood samples were collected from KRs (n=39) at eight checkpoints starting at the day before transplantation. Based on serum creatinine (sCr; mg / dl) on the fifth day after transplantation (i.e. <1.70 or > 1.70), the KRs were classified into Good Early Graft Function (GEGF) and Poor Early Graft Function (PEGF) groups.  Demographic and clinical indicators of the recipients were extracted from hospital database. The sCr was measured by Jaffechr('39')s and serum sB2M was measured by ELISA methods. The statistical population was described using the median index. The difference between the two groups was evaluated with a significance level of 0.05 and the Independent T-test and relevant graphs were drawn with Excel 2016.

The distribution of GEGF and PEGF was 66.7% and 33.3%, respectively. In the GEGF, the sCr levels gradually decreased reaching a nadir at 36 hours after the surgery. In the PEGE, the slope for sCr elimination was slower than that of the GEGF patients.  In the case of sB2M, the trend for GEGF patients reached a nadir at 72 hours after the surgery. For the PEGF group, no changes were recorded for B2M during the follow-up.

The present study is the first to explore the diagnostic value of serum B2M in KRs from living donors. This pilot study shows that B2M is capable of identifying KRs at high risk for reduced renal function. Further studies are required to evaluate the diagnostic performance of as biomarker of allograft dysfunction.