CD 44 as a Marker of Rejection in Patients with Post Liver Transplantation

Abstract

Abstract Background The first human orthotopic liver transplantation (LT) in Europe was performed by Sir Roy Calne in Cambridge in 1968, only one year after the first successful human liver transplantation reported by Thomas Starzl in the United States. Since then LT has evolved rapidly, becoming the standard therapy for acute and chronic liver failure of all aetiologies, with more than 80,000 procedures performed to date. Survival rates have improved significantly in the last 25 years, achieving rates of 96% and 71% at 1 and 10 years after LT respectively. Objective To assessment of value of serum level of CD44 as a marker of rejection in patients with post liver transplantation. Patients and Methods The study was conducted on patient all were recruited from ASCOT from May 2017 till December 2018. It included 20 adult patients with Post LDLT with elevated liver function tests and they were reviewed to determine if the serum level of CD44 had a value in diagnosis of acute rejection depending on proving the rejection by liver biopsy. They were distributed as 14 males and 6 females with age ranging 16 - 59 years. After obtaining the results of liver biopsy we had 14 patients with rejection, 4 patients with cholangitis with biliary obstruction and 2 patient with rejection with vascular insult. Results The control group was with irrelevant past medical history and normal liver functions, normal liver biopsy and underwent measurement of CD44 serum level. They were distributed as 14 males and 6 females with age ranging 26 – 41 years. Conclusion There was correlation between different pathological findings in liver biopsy and Serum level of CD44 that the low levels being with rejection and higher levels being with control group, that the CD44 may be used as a marker for rejection.