A group of pollutants denoted to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) currently comprises more than 4,700 identified substances. Their structure consists of a per- or polyfluorinated hydrocarbon chain forming the hydrophobic part of the molecule and a functional group which in turn forms a hydrophilic part. Depending on the type of functional group, PFAS can be divided into sulfonates, carboxylates, sulfonamides, phosphonates, acrylates, acetates and other minor groups. These substances are nowadays ubiquitous in the environment. In general, they are considered as highly persistent in nature. However, under suitable environmental conditions, some of them may degrade due to the presence of highly polar functional groups. The intermediates or final products of the degradation first step are less or non-polar. These are not readily (bio)degradable and can accumulate in the environment. Current technologies are not able to remove per- and polyfluorinated compounds from drinking water efficiently. It is therefore necessary to develop new technologies or efficient sorption materials that will enable the removal of both per- and polyfluorinated compounds, micropollutants and residual organic substances and thus to eliminate or at least to decrease the risk associated with human exposure to these substances in drinking water.
BACKGROUND: Kidney recipients maintaining a prolonged allograft survival in the absence of immunosuppressive drugs and without evidence of rejection are supposed to be exceptional. The ERA-EDTA-DESCARTES working group together with Nantes University launched a European-wide survey to identify new patients, describe them and estimate their frequency for the first time. METHODS: Seventeen coordinators distributed a questionnaire in 256 transplant centres and 28 countries in order to report as many 'operationally tolerant' patients (TOL; defined as having a serum creatinine <1.7 mg/dL and proteinuria <1 g/day or g/g creatinine despite at least 1 year without any immunosuppressive drug) and 'almost tolerant' patients (minimally immunosuppressed patients (MIS) receiving low-dose steroids) as possible. We reported their number and the total number of kidney transplants performed at each centre to calculate their frequency. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-seven questionnaires were returned and we identified 66 TOL (61 with complete data) and 34 MIS patients. Of the 61 TOL patients, 26 were previously described by the Nantes group and 35 new patients are presented here. Most of them were noncompliant patients. At data collection, 31/35 patients were alive and 22/31 still operationally tolerant. For the remaining 9/31, 2 were restarted on immunosuppressive drugs and 7 had rising creatinine of whom 3 resumed dialysis. Considering all patients, 10-year death-censored graft survival post-immunosuppression weaning reached 85% in TOL patients and 100% in MIS patients. With 218 913 kidney recipients surveyed, cumulative incidences of operational tolerance and almost tolerance were estimated at 3 and 1.5 per 10 000 kidney recipients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In kidney transplantation, operational tolerance and almost tolerance are infrequent findings associated with excellent long-term death-censored graft survival.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- homologní transplantace MeSH
- imunologická tolerance imunologie MeSH
- imunosupresivní léčba metody MeSH
- incidence MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- míra přežití trendy MeSH
- přežívání štěpu imunologie MeSH
- příjemce transplantátu * MeSH
- průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
- rejekce štěpu epidemiologie imunologie prevence a kontrola MeSH
- transplantace ledvin * MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- multicentrická studie MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Evropa epidemiologie MeSH
