PIRCHE Scores As Biomarkers For Rejection

And the PIRCHE research keeps rolling in! This week, we’re excited to showcase a paper from Spitznagel et al (University Hospital of Zurich) recently published in Frontiers in Immunology which highlights the effectiveness of PIRCHE-II scores as a predictive biomarker for rejection amongst kidney transplant recipients.

For a cohort of 123 kidney transplant recipients who underwent a first indication and then a follow up biopsy, it was shown that:

• A higher total PIRCHE-II score indicated a higher likelihood of T cell mediated rejection (TCMR) developing in the follow-up biopsy in the group of recipients that had no rejection (NR) or borderline rejection (BLR) at the initial biopsy.
• Transplant recipients with ongoing TCMR in the follow up biopsy were more likely to show higher total PIRCHE-II scores.
• For transplant recipients with antibody mediated rejection (ABMR) at the first biopsy, those with higher total PIRCHE-II scores were more likely to show an increase in the microvascular inflammation score in the follow-up biopsy, a key indicator for the progression of ABMR.

Based on their analysis, the authors conclude that immunological risk stratification using PIRCHE-II scores may contribute to individualised treatment strategies for kidney transplant recipients.

A link to the full article is available Here. If that doesn’t satisfy your PIRCHE cravings, you can also head over the ‘Literature Compass’ in the Education section of our website to peruse the full gamut of PIRCHE literature!

Happy reading and happy matching!

The Pirche Team

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