Capillary Deposition of Complement C4d and C3d in Chinese Renal Allograft Biopsies

Abstract EN

Background.

C3d is a product of both the classic and the alternative complement cascades; however, few studies have addressed the role of C3d in renal biopsies and its relationship with long-term graft survival rate is not very clear.

Methods.

94 patients with biopsy-proven acute rejection episodes were included in the study.

We investigated the associations between histological findings, clinical examinations, and outcome.

Results.

The overall prevalence for C4dPTC and C3dPTC was 42.6% and 29.8%.

There was a significant association between C3dPTC and C4dPTC ( P < 0.001 ).

C3dPTC and C4dPTC were related with histological types ( P = 0.024 and P < 0.001 , resp.).

The long-term survival rate for C4dPTC positive transplants was lower than that of C4dPTC negative transplants, but it was not statistic significant in our study ( P = 0.150 ).

The survival rate of C3dPTC positive group was much lower than the negative group ( P = 0.014 ).

Patients with double positives for C4dPTC and C3dPTC exhibited the lowest survival rate significantly different from those of the C3dPTC only and C4dPTC only groups ( P = 0.01 and P = 0.0037 ).

Conclusions.

This longitudinal cohort study has demonstrated that C3d deposition in the PTC was closely related to renal dysfunction and pathological changes.