Lymphocyte function based on IFN-γ secretion assay may be a promising indicator for assessing different immune status in renal transplant recipients

Immunological monitoring plays a crucial role in organ recipients for allowing tailoring of immunosuppression. However, there is still a paucity of promising indicators for detecting immune status in recipients.We conducted a prospective study to characterize the immune status by detecting dynamically lymphocyte subsets and function (represented by the abilities to secrete IFN-γ) in the first 6 months posttransplant in renal recipients. Participants were classified into an immune stable group, infected group, and rejected group.In the stable group, our study suggested that the counts and function of CD4+ T, CD8+ T, and NK lymphocytes decreased to their nadir at week 2, and thereafter these indicators were gradually restored. The counts exceeded pre-operative levels, whereas function did not reach the pre-transplant levels by 6 months. We demonstrated that function of lymphocytes was considerably decreased in infected recipients compared with the stable group when infection occurred. By contrast, the function of lymphocytes was obviously increased at the point of rejection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in the combination of subsets and function of lymphocytes presented a superior clinical value with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.903 in the diagnosis of infected receivers, and IFN-γ+CD8+ T cells% is the highest indicator with the auROC curve of 0.862. Another ROC analysis confirmed that IFN-γ+CD4 T cells% presented a preferable diagnostic value with an area of 0.887 for rejected recipients.In conclusion, the ability of lymphocyte subsets secreting IFN-γ may provide a promising assessment of immune status in recipients and allow timely modifying immunosuppression.