Adhesion Molecule Polymorphisms in Acute Renal Allograft Rejection

Abstract Acute rejection is the main cause of early renal allograft failure. Adhesion molecules provide signals for activation and recruitment of effector cells leading to graft infiltration by host T cells, which are key to allograft rejection. This study was undertaken to analyze the adhesion molecule gene polymorphisms in renal transplant recipients and to investigate their potential association with the development of acute allograft rejection. A total of 120 renal transplant recipients and 100 controls were retrospectively genotyped. Seven nucleotide polymorphisms in intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1, L-selectin, and E-selectin were analyzed using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-SSP assay and PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Recipients were selected on the basis of the development of acute allograft rejection in the first 6 months after renal transplantation. Forty-one patients developed acute allograft rejection and 79 showed uneventful courses. There was no evidence for an association of any polymorphism with acute rejection. Thus, we concluded that these genes do not predispose to acute renal allograft rejection.