T as in transplants

In the last few years, studies in kidney transplant recipients have shown that in some individuals, tolerance to donor tissue can be induced - which puts the patients at low or no risk of rejecting the organ. A team at Columbia University Medical Center has found the tolerance is caused by the body eliminating clones of T cells that react to donor antigens. Next, the researchers want to create a predictive biomarker to track that elimination, and use it to identify patients who can safely avoid the need for the lifelong immunosuppressants routinely required after kidney transplant surgery.

Although spontaneous tolerance is rare - seen in under 5% of kidney transplant cases - induced tolerance appears to be feasible in a much higher proportion of patients. ...