Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) are commonly used in peri-transplant desensitization, but evidence supporting their efficacy is limited. We conducted a prospective, randomized single-center, open-label, Phase IIIb non-inferiority clinical pilot trial to compare the efficacy of IVIG (administered at a dose of 3 × 0.5 g/kg) versus no IVIG, in conjunction with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (5-7 mg/kg) induction, in pre-sensitized patients with donor-specific antibodies who had negative pre-transplantation Flow- and CDC-crossmatches, between July 2020 and November 2022. The primary endpoint was the rate of efficacy failure, defined as biopsy-proven rejection within 12-month post-transplant. Secondary endpoints included the incidence of rejection at protocol biopsies, evaluated by histology and biopsy-based transcripts diagnostics. Of the screened patients, 53 (72.6%) were excluded due to crossmatch positivity. Ten patients were randomized to the IVIG+, and 7 to the IVIG-arm. The trial was prematurely terminated due to futility at interim analysis. In the IVIG-arm, 3 patients (43%) experienced the primary endpoint compared to none in the IVIG+ arm (p = 0.026). MMDx identified one molecular ABMR in the IVIG+ and 2 in the IVIG-arm in 12-month protocol biopsies. There was one graft loss in the IVIG-arm. The results of this pilot study, although not definitive, do not support the use of IVIG-sparing regimens in HLA-incompatible kidney transplantation (NCT04302805). This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier NCT04302805.

Department of Data Science Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czechia

Department of Immunogenetics Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czechia

Department of Nephrology Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czechia

Department of Transplantation Surgery Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czechia

Transplantation Laboratory Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czechia

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ClinicalTrials.gov
NCT04302805