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Objective: Nephrotic syndrome is the most frequent cause of membranous nephropathy (MN) in adults. Growth differentiation factor (GDF)-15 is a cytokine released under stress and associated with increased incidence of chronic kidney disease and/or decreased renal function in conditions such as diabetic nephropathy, IgA nephropathy, lupus nephritis, and primary MN. The diagnosis of MN is made by biopsy, which is an invasive procedure. A non-invasive biomarker is needed for timely and risk-free diagnosis. This study aimed to estimate the GDF-15 level in patients with MN to determine if it can be used as a noninvasive biomarker for the diagnosis of MN. Materials and Methods: The study included 88 patients with MN. Sera were obtained from peripheral blood collected from the patients. GDF-15 levels were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: GDF-15 level was high in older patients that in younger patients. The glomerular filtration rate was low in patients with increased GDF-15 levels. Furthermore, a decrease in GDF-15 levels was observed in patients in remission. Conclusion: GDF-15 level may be used as a biomarker to predict the progression of MN rather than a diagnostic biomarker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a treatment option with growing performance for leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and genetic disorders. The frequency of MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) gene locus recombination is increased at loci close to the telomeres and in the female gender. The aim of the present study is to document the recombination events by pedigree diagrams with the primary goal to determine the frequency of recombination in a different ethnic population from mostly reported studies. Methods: Altogether 9545 allogeneic HSCT recipients and their family‐based potential donors (n:36231) were included in this retrospective study. Results: Recombinations were determined in 118 (F/M:50/68) out of 9545 families enrolled on the study. These were present in 40 of the patients and 78 of healthy donors. The frequency of recombinations was 0.42% and 0.22%, in patients and donors, respectively. Of the 118 recombinations, 60 were detected in A locus (13 inpatients), 14 in B locus (3 inpatients) and 42 in DR locus (22 inpatients). In our study, due to recombinations in HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen)‐A,‐B,–DR loci, we found that some patient‐donor pairs became 6/5 matched instead of 6/6 (n:45), eliminating the allogeneic HSCT possibility for the patients from the full‐matched siblings. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the recombination frequencies in HLA loci among Turkish population and thus, providing informative data to the clinicians regarding the cross‐over possibilities in Turkish patients with haematological malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study aims to examine the association of LIM zinc finger domain containing 1 (LIMS1) genotype with allograft rejection in an independent kidney transplant cohort. Methods We genotyped 841 kidney transplant recipients for the LIMS1 rs893403 variant by Sanger sequencing followed by polymerase chain reaction confirmation of the deletion. Recipients who were homozygous for the LIMS1 rs893403 genotype GG were compared with the AA/AG genotypes. The primary outcome was T cell–mediated or antibody-mediated rejection (TCMR or ABMR, respectively) and secondary outcome was allograft loss. Results After a median follow-up of 11.4 years, the rate of TCMR was higher in recipients with the GG genotype (n  = 200) compared with the AA/AG genotypes (n  = 641) [25 (12.5%) versus 35 (5.5%); P = 0.001] while ABMR did not differ by genotype [18 (9.0%) versus 62 (9.7%)]. Recipients with the GG genotype had 2.4 times higher risk of TCMR than those who did not have this genotype [adjusted hazard ratio2.43 (95% confidence interval 1.44–4.12); P = 0.001]. A total of 189 (22.5%) recipients lost their allografts during follow-up. Kaplan–Meier estimates of 5-year (94.3% versus 94.4%; P = 0.99) and 10-year graft survival rates (86.9% versus 83.4%; P = 0.31) did not differ significantly in the GG versus AA/AG groups. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that recipient LIMS1 risk genotype is associated with an increased risk of TCMR after kidney transplantation, confirming the role of the LIMS1 locus in allograft rejection. These findings may have clinical implications for the prediction and clinical management of kidney transplant rejection by pretransplant genetic testing of recipients and donors for LIMS1 risk genotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]