Publication: Journal of Hepatology

Rhiannon Taylor, Elisa Allen, James A. Richards, Mingzheng A. Goh, James Neuberger, David Collett, Gavin J. Pettigrew, Liver Advisory Group to NHS Blood and Transplant

11 January 2019

Summary:

This study looks at patients who require a liver transplant to save their lives; this liver can be donated by a person who has died either after their heart has stopped (donation after cardiac death – DCD) or after the brain has been injured and can no longer support life (donation after brainstem death – DCB). We know that livers donated after brainstem death function better than those after cardiac death, but there are not enough of these livers for everyone, so we wished to help patients decide whether it was better for them to accept an early offer of a DCD liver than waiting longer to receive a “better” liver from a DBD donor. We found that patients were more likely to survive if they accepted the offer of a liver transplant as soon as possible (DCD or DBD), especially if their liver disease was very severe.

View publication

Publication: Biomaterials

Ng SS, Saeb-Parsy K, Blackford SJI, Segal JM, Serra MP, Horcas-Lopez M, No DY, Mastoridis S, Jassem W, Frank CW, Cho NJ, Nakauchi H, Glenn JS, Rashid ST. Biomaterials.

November 2018

View publication

Publication: The Lancet

Gemma D Banham, MRCP(UK), Shaun M Flint, FRACP,  Nicholas Torpey, FRCP, Paul A Lyons, PhD, Don N Shanahan, MSc, Adele Gibson, BSc, Prof Christopher J E Watson, FRCS, Ann-Marie O’Sullivan, MRes, Joseph A Chadwick, Katie E Foster, PhD, Rachel B Jones, FRCP, Luke R Devey, MRCSEd, Anna Richards, MRCP(UK), Prof Lars-Peter Erwig, MD, Prof Caroline O Savage,FMedSci, Prof Kenneth G C Smith, FMedSci, Robert B Henderson, PhD, Menna R Clatworthy, FRCP†

14 June 2018

Summary:

Transplantation is the best form of treatment for most patients with end-stage renal failure, but long-term graft survival is limited by the development of antibodies against the graft. There is therefore a major unmet need to find immunosuppressants that target humoral alloimmunity.

Researchers investigated the use of Belimumab, a monoclonal antibody that binds the B cell pro-survival cytokine BAFF, in kidney transplant recipients.

The study found that the use of belimumab was not associated with any excess risk of infection, and led to a reduction in antibody-producing plasmablasts, activated memory B cells, new IgG antibody formation and in non-HLA IgG antibodies associated with poor graft outcomes. Remarkably, belimumab treatment spared regulatory B cells – a cell type associated with transplant tolerance, with an increase in IL10-producing B cells observed.

View publication

Publication: Journal of the American Heart Association

Kohlhauer M, Dawkins S, Costa ASH, Lee R, Young T, Pell VR, Choudhury RP, Banning AP, Kharbanda RK; Oxford Acute Myocardial Infarction (OxAMI) Study, Saeb-Parsy K, Murphy MP, Frezza C, Krieg T, Channon KM.

6 April 2018

View publication