Abstract
Endocan is a water-soluble proteoglycan exclusively secreted by vascular endothelium. Endocan levels may be elevated in kidney transplant recipients experiencing antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR), which is characterized by vascular inflammation in transplanted kidney. We evaluated the clinical relevance of endocan as markers of microvascular inflammation in patients who underwent kidney transplantation. Plasma and urinary endocan levels were measured in 203 kidney transplant recipients and were compared across different etiologies of allograft dysfunction and various pathologic scores. Both plasma and urinary endocan levels were significantly higher in patients with acute ABMR than those in patients with normal pathology, acute tubular necrosis (ATN), acute pyelonephritis, BK virus associated nephropathy (BKVN), and T-cell mediated rejection (TCMR). Patients with chronic active ABMR also exhibited significantly higher plasma and urinary endocan levels than patients with long-term graft survival. Scores of glomerulitis and peritubular capillaritis, which are typical features of microvascular inflammation, were significantly elevated in patients with higher plasma and/or urinary endocan levels. Furthermore, plasma and urinary endocan levels could effectively discriminate ABMR from ATN, BKVN, and TCMR. Finally, patients exhibiting high urinary and plasma endocan levels in acute ABMR group showed significantly worse renal survival. Altogether, plasma and urinary endocan levels may serve as potential markers of microvascular inflammation in kidney transplant recipients.
Highlights
Endocan is a water-soluble proteoglycan exclusively secreted by vascular endothelium
A detailed definition of each diagnostic group is provided in the Materials and methods section. These groups were further divided into two sets according to patient transplant vintages and were analyzed separately for each set to eliminate a confounding effect of transplant vintage; the short transplant vintage set included patients with NP, acute tubular necrosis (ATN), APN, BK virus associated nephropathy (BKVN), T-cell mediated rejection (TCMR), and acute antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR), and the long transplant vintage set included those with LTGS and chronic active AMBR
No differences in age or sex were observed in the short transplant vintage set, but transplant vintages were longer in patients with TCMR and acute ABMR than in those with NP, ATN, APN, and BKVN
Summary
Endocan is a water-soluble proteoglycan exclusively secreted by vascular endothelium. Plasma and urinary endocan levels were measured in 203 kidney transplant recipients and were compared across different etiologies of allograft dysfunction and various pathologic scores. Both plasma and urinary endocan levels were significantly higher in patients with acute ABMR than those in patients with normal pathology, acute tubular necrosis (ATN), acute pyelonephritis, BK virus associated nephropathy (BKVN), and T-cell mediated rejection (TCMR). Scores of glomerulitis and peritubular capillaritis, which are typical features of microvascular inflammation, were significantly elevated in patients with higher plasma and/or urinary endocan levels. Plasma and urinary endocan levels may serve as potential markers of microvascular inflammation in kidney transplant recipients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of plasma and urinary endocan levels as markers of MVI in kidney transplant recipients
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
