Rituximab, plasma exchange and immunoglobulins: an ineffective treatment for chronic active antibody-mediated rejection

Background Chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (c-aABMR) is an important cause of allograft failure and graft loss in long-term kidney transplants. Methods To determine the efficacy and safety of combined therapy with rituximab, plasma exchange (PE) and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), a cohort of patients with transplant glomerulopathy (TG) that met criteria of active cABMR, according to BANFF’17 classification, was identified. Results We identified 62 patients with active c-aABMR and TG (cg ≥ 1). Twenty-three patients were treated with the combination therapy and, 39 patients did not receive treatment and were considered the control group. There were no significant differences in the graft survival between the two groups. The number of graft losses at 12 and 24 months and the decline of eGFR were not different and independent of the treatment. A decrease of eGFR≥13 ml/min between 6 months before and c-aABMR diagnosis, was an independent risk factor for graft loss at 24 months (OR = 5; P = 0.01). Infections that required hospitalization during the first year after c-aABMR diagnosis were significantly more frequent in treated patients (OR = 4.22; P = 0.013), with a ratio infection/patient-year of 0.65 and 0.20 respectively. Conclusions Treatment with rituximab, PE, and IVIG in kidney transplants with c-aABMR did not improve graft survival and was associated with a significant increase in severe infectious complications. Trial registration Agencia Española de Medicametos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS): 14566/RG 24161. Study code: UTR-INM-2017-01. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12882-018-1057-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.