Suchin Worawichawong

Background: Given the significant impact of delayed graft function (DGF) on transplant outcomes, the aim of this study was to develop and validate machine learning (ML) models capable of predicting the risk of DGF in deceased-donor kidney transplantation (DDKT). Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using clinical and histopathological data collected between 2018 and 2022 at Ramathibodi Hospital from DDKT donors, recipients, and post-implantation time-zero kidney biopsy samples to develop predictive models. The performance of three ML models (neural network, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting [XGBoost]) and traditional logistic regression on an independent test data set was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and Brier score calibration. Results: Among 354 DDKT recipients, 64 (18.1%) experienced DGF. The key contributing factors included a donor body mass index > 23 kg/m², donor diabetes mellitus, a prolonged cold ischemia time, a male recipient, and an interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy score of 2–3 in the time-zero kidney biopsy sample. The random forest model had a specificity of 99.96% and an AUROC of 0.9323, the neural network model had a specificity of 97.43% and an AUROC of 0.844, and the XGBoost model had a specificity of 99.81% and an AUROC of 0.989. A traditional statistical model had a specificity of 84.4% and an AUROC of 0.769. Conclusions: Predictive models, especially XGBoost models, have potential as tools for assessing DGF risk post-DDKT, guiding acceptance decisions, and avoiding risky biopsy, and they may be crucial in resource-limited settings.

Vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) has proven to be the most effective measure to prevent the spread and reduce infection severity. A case report of de novo membranous nephropathy (MN) following immunization with inactivated virus vaccine (CoronaVac^®, Sinovac Biotech) is presented here. A 53-year-old man presented with a sudden onset of leg edema a week after receiving an inactivated virus vaccine and a relapse of nephrotic syndrome (NS) with acute kidney injury (AKI) after a booster dose. Screening for serum anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody and secondary causes of MN were negative. Kidney biopsy revealed an early MN pattern with focal spike formation, whilst numerous subepithelial electron-dense deposits and a few small deposits in the mesangial area were observed through electron microscopy. A short course of steroids and oral cyclophosphamide was prescribed, resulting in the complete remission of NS and AKI. MN following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination should call for medical importance. Awareness of the association between vaccination and MN should be kept in mind to avoid unnecessary treatment with long-term immunosuppressive agents.

Introduction: There is a need for sensitive and specific biomarkers to predict kidney damage and therapeutic response in lupus nephritis (LN). Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) are cytokines with divergent roles. EGF or EGF/MCP1 ratio have been shown to correlate with prognosis in primary glomerulonephritis, but there is limited information in lupus nephritis (LN). This study evaluated the roles of MCP-1, EGF or their ratio as biomarkers of histopathology and response to treatment in LN. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and observational study. Baseline urine MCP-1 and EGF levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and controls (total n = 101) were compared, and levels were correlated with clinicopathological findings and subsequent response to treatment. Results: MCP-1 was higher in active LN (n = 69) compared to other SLE groups and controls, whereas EGF was not different. MCP-1 correlated with disease activity (proteinuria, renal SLEDAI, classes III/IV/V, and high activity index.) By contrast, EGF correlated with eGFR, but not with proteinuria, activity index, or class III/IV/V. MCP-1 was higher, and EGF was lower in high chronicity index. EGF/MCP-1 decreased with greater clinicopathological severity. In a subgroup with proliferative LN who completed six months of induction therapy (n = 41), EGF at baseline was lower in non-responders compared to responders, whereas MCP-1 was similar. By multivariable analysis, baseline EGF was independently associated with subsequent treatment response. Area under the curve for EGF to predict response was 0.80 (0.66–0.95). EGF ≥ 65.6 ng/ mgCr demonstrated 85% sensitivity and 71% specificity for response. EGF/MCP-1 did not improve the prediction for response compared to EGF alone. Conclusion: MCP-1 increased with disease activity, whereas EGF decreased with low GFR and chronic damage. Urine EGF may be a promising biomarker to predict therapeutic response in LN. EGF/MCP-1 did not improve the prediction of response.

Down-regulation of tumor-suppressive miR-145 has been reported in various malignancies, including oral squamous-cell carcinoma (OSCC) that is influenced by several factors, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV). Oncoviruses can modulate the expression of cellular microRNAs. Therefore, we sought to investigate the association of miR-145 down-regulation in OSCC with EBV and/or HPV infection, which might be a possible mechanism of these viruses in oral carcinogenesis. Herein, prevalence of EBV, HPV, and their co-infection was significantly higher in tumors than normal tissues of OSCC. EBV infection alone or jointly with HPV was significantly associated with down-regulation of miR-145 in tumors compared with normal adjacent tissues. In cell lines infected with EBV or HPV, miR-145 was also down-regulated. Consistently, methylation of miR-145 was significantly greater in tumors, and well correlated with increased expression of DNMT3B, which was influenced by infection with EBV and HPV. In cell lines, only EBV infection was associated with increased expression of DNMT3B. Moreover, the level of EBV-LMP1 mRNA in tumors was negatively correlated with miR-145 and positively correlated with DNMT3B. Therefore, EBV alone or jointly with HPV is associated with down-regulation of miR-145 and may influence on miR-145 promoter methylation through the induction of DNMT3B in OSCC.

Screening and early detection for the preceding BK polyomavirus (BKV) DNAuria and DNAemia to prevent the occurrence of BK polyomavirus BKV-associated nephropathy (BKPyVAN) among kidney transplant (KT) recipients has not been universally utilized and never assessed in a setting where the resource is limited. Therefore, we aimed to investigate this entity’s incidence, risk factors, and outcome with this intervention at our institution. A prospective study of KT recipients at a tertiary care transplant center in Bangkok, Thailand, was conducted between January 2019 and March 2020. All patients underwent preemptive monitoring of urine and plasma BKV DNA load, measured by quantitative real-time PCR at 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-KT. Low- and high-level BKV DNAuria was defined as urine BKV DNA load of < and > 7log10 copies/mL, respectively. Low- and high-level BKV DNAemia was defined as plasma BKV DNA load of < and > 4log10 copies/mL, respectively. The incidences were calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The chi-square or student’s T-test compared clinical characteristics between those with and without high-level BKV DNAuria as appropriate. Risk factors of high-level BKV DNAuria were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard model. Among 99 evaluable KT recipients, a mean (SD) age was 42 (11) years, 64.6% were male, and 69.6% received an induction immunosuppressive therapy. Within 12 months post-KT, the incidences of low-level BKV DNAuria, high-level BKV DNAuria, low-level BKV DNAemia, and high-level BKV DNAemia were 22.63%, 13.14%, 9.49%, and 5.11%, respectively. High panel reactive antibody (PRA) was associated with high-level BKV DNAuria at 6 and 12 months, (HR 1.02 [95% CI (1.00-1.04)], P=0.019) and (HR 1.02 [95% CI (1.00-1.04)], P=0.023), respectively. Underlying diabetes mellitus was associated with high-level BKV DNAuria (HR 3.49 [95% CI (1.28-9.51)], P=0.015) at six months; however, not at 12 months. There was no allograft rejection directly related to a reduction of immunosuppression for BKV infection observed. BKPyV infection is also prevalent among KT recipients in a resource-limited setting, however, without unfavorable consequence. Those with high-level PRA and underlying diabetes could be at risk of high-level BKV DNAuria after KT. All Authors: No reported disclosures

Background: Kidney transplantation is the most valuable renal replacement therapy. One of the most common urologic complications following kidney transplantation is ureter anastomosis leakage, which leads to high morbidity along with kidney graft loss. We hypothesized that indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence videography can assess ureter perfusion after revascularization of transplanted kidneys. Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study in end-stage renal disease patients who underwent deceased donor kidney transplantation at Ramathibodi Hospital from September 2019 to January 2020. The segments of transplanted ureters were categorized as having good or poor perfusion based on the percentage from ICG fluorescence videography images. Then the results from ICG fluorescence videography were compared with histopathology which is considered the gold standard. Results: Thirty-one sections of dissected ureters were evaluated from 10 patients. Compared with pathological diagnosis of ureteral ischemia, ICG videography had sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and positive likelihood ratio of 100%, 92.6%, 66.7%, 100%, and 14, respectively. Accuracy was 93.6%. The area under the curve of ICG fluorescence videography was 0.96. The average ureter length that maintained good perfusion was 14 cm from the ureteropelvic junction. Adverse events from ICG were not observed in this study. Conclusions: We conclude that ICG fluorescence videography is beneficial for detection of early ureteral ischemia in kidney transplantation patients, with negligible adverse events. However, further studies with larger numbers of patients are necessary to confirm our results and clinical outcomes regarding complication rates.

Adenovirus (ADV) infection after kidney transplantation (KT) causes significant morbidity. Patient characteristics and outcomes of ADV infection in KT recipients were investigated. All adult KT recipients with ADV infection between January 2015 and June 2019 were included. ADV infection/disease was defined as detection of ADV DNA in clinical specimens/plus symptoms. Clinical and laboratory findings, treatments, and outcomes were assessed. ADV infection was diagnosed in 24/751 KT recipients (3.2%). Twenty (83%) were male with a median age of 47 years (IQR 36–58). Fifteen (63%) underwent deceased donor KT, and 13 (54%) received induction therapy. Twenty-one (88%) and four (17%) patients developed hemorrhagic cystitis and disseminated disease, respectively. There were equal distributions of early-onset (EOI) (< 3 months) and late- onset (LOI) (> 3 months) infections. Patients who were diagnosed with EOI had lower median absolute lymphocyte counts compared to those with LOI (735/mm³ [IQR 543–1123] vs. 1122/mm³ [IQR 784–1344], p = 0.04). All achieved resolution after reduction of their immunosuppression regimen and 13 (54%) received cidofovir therapy. Eighteen (75%) developed allograft dysfunction, of which 67% were transient. One (4%) underwent nephrectomy for allograft failure and 1 (4%) died (non-ADV-related). Patients with EOI were more likely to receive cidofovir therapy (75% vs. 33%, p = 0.04) and develop other opportunistic infections (75% vs. 8%, p < 0.001). ADV infection after KT typically involves a genitourinary system and transiently impairs an allograft function. Those who developed early infection tend to have more lymphopenia, co-infection and receiving antiviral therapy.

Congenital high airway obstruction syndrome is a rare but life-threatening condition. Therefore, prenatal diagnosis is important. The obstruction can be due to laryngeal/tracheal atresia or external compression. While a differential diagnosis with congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) type III may be difficult, it is still possible with ultrasonography. In this study, we report a case of bilateral echogenic lungs with hydrops fetalis. After the prenatal diagnosis of laryngeal atresia, the couple opted to have an elective termination of pregnancy performed at 20 weeks of gestation. The diagnosis was confirmed by a complete pathological examination.