Researchers standardize test for predicting transplant rejection

[Northerner]

Researchers from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research have developed a standardised method of measuring the immune response in islet transplant recipients, helping predict patient outcomes.

Islet transplantation is a frontier therapy for type 1 diabetes with notable success in hypoglycaemic patients, where pancreatic beta cells from a donor are transplanted into a recipient, enabling the body to produce insulin, and regulate blood sugar.

Transplant recipients are given immunosuppressant medication to prevent the immune system from attacking and destroying the transplant. However, rejection may still occur in certain instances.

Lead researcher Dr Min Hu and her team aimed to standardise a method using flow cytometry -- technology that detects and measures the characteristics of a group of cells -- to analyse the immune cells present in blood samples.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190529113053.htm

 

[mikeyB]

So it’s only a prediction of how long a transplant will last, with no predictive value before transplantation. You could also measure BG to see if a transplant is failing. Both are as useful, if you think about it. Which they obviously didn’t.