Treatment of Simultaneous Acute Antibody-Mediated Rejection and Acute Cellular Rejection With Alemtuzumab in Kidney Transplantation: A Case Report

This is a case report of a living related donor kidney transplantation using basiliximab induction and maintenance immunosuppression with cyclosporine, mycophenolate sodium, and steroid. On the second posttransplant clay, the patient developed acute antibody-mediated rejection, which was treated with plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Five days later, the graft had still not responded to the treatment. Another biopsy revealed additional acute cellular rejection (Banff IIA). As alemtuzumab can rapidly deplete T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, and natural killer cells, the patient was treated with alemtuzumab (30 mg subcutaneously) together with methylprednisolone (500 mg) and two more plasmaphereses. The kidney graft responded within 48 hours, producing more than 4 L of urine per day. The total lymphocyte decreased from 530/mu L to 50/mu L remaining in the 50 to 220/mu L range. The patient received valgancyclovir and cotrimoxazole as infection prophylaxis. The kidney graft responded well to the rescue treatment and the patient was discharged with a serum creatinine of 1.1 mg/mL and has been uneventfully followed in the outpatient clinic for 8 months. Today, with the potent, effective, and selective immunosuppressive regimens, the rate and severity of acute cellular rejection in kidney transplantation has decreased in most centers. However, the rate of acute antibody-mediated rejection has increased to levels greater than those of acute cellular rejection in many centers. Acute antibody-mediated rejection is more difficult and expensive to treat successfully. The treatment of acute antibody-mediated rejection included plasmapheresis and IVIG. Herein we have reported a case of kidney transplantation simultaneously developing acute antibody-mediated and acute cellular rejection; the patient was successfully treated with alemtuzumab.