High weight differences between donor and recipient affect early kidney graft function -a role for IL-6 signaling

The frequency of delayed function of kidney transplants varies greatly and is associated with the quality of graft, donor age, and the duration of cold ischemia time. Body weight differences between donor and recipient can affect primary graft function. The underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we have transplanted kidney grafts from commensurate body weight (L-WD) or reduced body weight (H-WD) donor rats into syngeneic or allogeneic recipients. 24 hours post-transplantation, serum creatinine level in H-WD recipients was significantly higher compared to that of L-WD recipients indicating impaired primary graft function. We detected a 10 fold higher transcription of IL-6 and dramatically increased tubular destruction in grafts from H-WD recipients. This was accompanied by decreased expression of genes associated with kidney function and an up-regulation of other genes such as cytochrome P450 isoforms, FosL and Trib3 as revealed by DNA microarray analysis. A single application of IL-6 into L-WD recipients is sufficient to impair primary graft function and to cause tubular damage. Whereas, immediate neutralization of IL-6 receptor signaling rescued primary graft function resulting in low serum creatinine levels, well-preserved kidney graft architecture and a normalized gene expression profile. These findings have strong clinical implication as anti-IL6R treatment of patients receiving grafts from lower-weight donors could be used to improve primary graft function. The dataset comprises eight samples divided into four sample groups. Each group represents rat kidneys collected after allogeneic transplantation under a certain condition and includes two biological replicates. The first group is characterized by a high body weight difference between donor and recipient, rats in the second group exhibit a low weight difference. Group three and four are similar to group one, but underwent an additional treatment with anti-IL6R mAb or prednisolone immediately after transplantation.