Research improves long-term kidney transplant success rates

The National Institute of Physics has published the results of two studies on methods used to assess kidney health and suitability for transplantation. This could help increase the number of available transplants. The study was published in the journal direct transplant And then Frontiers of nephrology.

Scientists and clinicians from NPL and the University of Cambridge have completed two studies on improving kidney health assessments. In this study, tissue samples from 16 discarded kidneys (kidneys considered for transplantation but not used) were measured repeatedly using six different tissue preparation methods and the results were compared.

Current indicators of donor kidney health for transplantation focus on donor age and medical history. This approach can lead to organ discard, as it mostly discards potentially healthy kidneys from older donors.

In the first study, scientists measured characteristics such as scarring and vascular health in kidney tissue samples and calculated multiple scores for each kidney to understand the magnitude and pattern of variation. The score predicted whether a discarded kidney would be healthy enough for transplantation.

The researchers found that more than half of discarded kidneys were suitable for transplantation, and that scores varied widely depending on chance and how the kidney tissue was prepared.

This discovery led to a second study in which NPL scientists aimed to find out which measurement methods could more reliably predict a kidney's suitability for transplant. Scientists explored the best ways to prepare and analyze kidney tissue and provided several recommendations to help clinicians calculate more reliable health scores.

One of the recommendations is the optimal size of the kidney tissue surface area to obtain reliable measurements while minimizing damage to the kidney.

NPL scientists will conduct deeper research into how to collect and analyze tissue samples and which areas of the kidney are suitable for tissue sampling. This will allow us to make further recommendations to help clinicians maximize the impact of tissue assessment in the transplant process.

The scientists working on these papers, Dr. We hope this will help design and address the current kidney shortage.” For transplantation.

“This study shows how metrology can help solve reproducibility challenges in science. Here we provide insight into the quality and reproducibility of clinical measurements and encourage good practices and standardization. lay the foundation for defining measured measurements to improve clinical decision-making and ultimately patient outcomes.

“This study shows how measurement science can support clinicians by using principles of experimental design to study what influences biopsy scores.”

Dr Alex Samoshkin, deputy director of the University of Cambridge's Office of Translational Research, said: 'These findings demonstrate that organ compatibility is considered based on its structural features, rather than 'non-specific parameters' such as age. “It has a very important translational impact.” In fact, in today's world, some elderly men and women are very healthy and therefore their organs may be perfectly suitable for patients. ”

Tobi Ayorinde, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Transplant Surgery at UCL, said: 'How we measure organ quality in transplants is extremely important as it forms the basis of decision-making for doctors and patients. By improving the fundamentals, our findings could increase confidence and expand the pool of viable organs, giving more patients a chance at successful transplantation.”