Washington, July 30 (ANI): The short-term success of kidney transplants in females recipients from deceased male donor kidneys is not guaranteed, but the long-term success is quite promising, claims a study.

The study showed that female recipients of kidneys from deceased male donors demonstrate an increased risk of allograft failure in the first year after transplant, but show no increased risk after ten years.

The study authors claimed that proteins on male donor cells might affect the short-term success of kidney transplants in women.

Dr. Joseph Kim and Dr. John Gill studied information on all adult recipients of deceased-donor kidney transplants from 1990 through 2004 in the United States Renal Data System.

They followed almost 117,877 patients for at least one-year post transplant, out of which 16,135 experienced kidney graft failure and 6,878 died within the year.

In addition, 97,906 patients had functioning grafts at 1-year and were followed for up to 10 years post-transplant. Of these, 35,084 graft failures and 22,566 deaths occurred.

The results of the analysis revealed that H-Y antigens, derived from the male chromosome and not found in women, could trigger an immune response in women who receive transplants from deceased male donors.

Compared with all other sex combinations, female recipients of male donor kidneys had a 12 percent increased risk for transplant failure at one year but no excess risk at 10 years.

Women who received male donor kidneys also exhibited a similar increased risk of death in the first year, but no increased risk at 10 years.

Kim noted that there are numerous factors that contribute to the success of kidney transplants and that transplanting male kidneys into female recipients often produces excellent outcomes.

According to the authors, many important factors should be taken into account when considering transplant options, and “future research should examine the potential mechanisms underlying the H-Y effect in order to better understand the specific role of minor histocompatibility antigens in determining kidney allograft outcomes.”

The study has been published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). (ANI)