Evaluation of serum tumor necrosis factor α and its correlation with histology in chronic kidney disease, stable renal transplant and rejection cases

Abstract EN

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) is a cytokine secreted by macrophages, helper T cells, Natural Killer cells, B lymphocytes and non-lymphoid cells e.g.

endothelial cells, fibroblast and tumor cell lines.

Aim of the study was to find the utility of TNF α in diagnosing renal transplant rejection among the renal transplant cases (n = 29), and comparison with the levels in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (n = 21) and healthy controls (n=20).

TNF α in healthy control varied from 2 to 15 pg / mL.

In chronic renal failure and renal transplant rejection cases TNF α was above 45 pg / mL.

In stable renal transplant patients it was higher than normal (16 to 30 pg / mL).

In both acute and chronic transplant rejection TNF α increase correlated well with histology.

Thus our study suggests that TNF a level more than 45 pg / mL can be taken as an immunological marker of renal transplant rejection.