Association between a change in donor kidney function and long-term allograft outcomes in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Reserve capacity of donated kidney may be an important determinant of allograft survival in kidney transplantation (KT). Here, we investigate change in estimated glomerular filtration rate of donor kidney (ΔeGFRDonor) over 30 days after KT as a predictor of the allograft function. A total of 222 recipients were divided into two groups according to ΔeGFRDonor as follows: Group I (n=110), ΔeGFRDonor≥-25%; Group II (n=112), ΔeGFRDonor <0.05). However, no differences in eGFRRecipient were detected between the two groups after 10 years. Linear regression analysis showed that ΔeGFRDonor was significantly associated with the eGFRRecipient at 3 years post-transplantation, but not at 10 years post-transplantation. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, Group I had a greater dialysis-free survival rate than Group II at the 10-year follow-up (84% vs. 76%, P<0.05). However, no difference in overall survival rate between groups was detected. In the multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional-hazard model, ΔeGFRDonor was independently associated with future allograft loss (hazard ratio 0.973; 95% confidence interval 0.949-0.999). These results suggest that larger recovery of donor kidney function after KT donation is associated with better short/intermediate-term allograft outcomes. Follow-up assessment of donor kidney function may be useful to monitor KT recipients at risk for allograft loss.