Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Researchers Probe Immune Microenvironment to Prevent Pediatric Liver Transplant Rejection

Children with liver transplants must take immunosuppressant medications for life. To maintain tolerance of the transplanted liver, doctors treat transplant rejection and conduct ongoing maintenance immunosuppression by increasing dosages of medication enough to counteract rejection. CHLA researchers are developing an imaging panel that identifies the cell types implicated in transplant rejection.

Study Finds Immune Cell That Predicts Risk of Organ Rejection In Transplant Patients

Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine are the first to identify an immune cell that may predict a transplant patient’s risk of developing antibodies that can cause organ rejection. This discovery could lead to the development of therapies to prevent complications after transplant surgery.

Steep Decline in Organ Transplants Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

France and the United States have experienced a tremendous reduction in the number of organ donations and transplant procedures since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. By early April, transplant centers in both countries were conducting far fewer deceased donor transplants compared to just one month earlier, with the number of procedures dropping by 91 percent in France and 50 percent in the United States.