Deceased Donor Biomarkers and Recipient Outcomes (DDS)

Our study has several key processes that we have developed and tested to address our scientific aims:

1. Enrollment

   We will collect urine samples from approximately 1600 deceased donors and approximately 600 perfusate samples from machine-pumped kidneys from participating organ procurement organizations (OPOs). We estimate that our final donor group will be comprised of 55% standard criteria donors, 25% expanded-criteria donors and 10% donors after cardiac death. Approximately, 20% of the kidneys will be discarded.

2. Donor Data

   Donor variables come from two sources: the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database and detailed data abstraction from each OPO. The UNOS database provides data on all donors with demographics and other important clinical characteristics. The additional data collected by the OPO staff captures granular information on events surrounding donor death, which are not included in the UNOS database. These data will be available on all enrolled donors and include variables such as serial serum creatinine, nadir blood pressures, medication and vasopressor use, and machine pump parameters.

3. Overall Recipient Cohort

   Over 2000 recipients will have received kidneys from the deceased donors in our study. The Overall Cohort will comprise all of these recipients General demographic and clinical characteristics about recipients in the Overall Cohort will come from the UNOS database. For the Overall Recipient Cohort, we will ascertain delayed graft function (DGF) through center reports to UNOS. We will ascertain allograft failure through center reports to UNOS and new episodes of wait-listing and re-transplant collected by UNOS, Recipient mortality will be ascertained through the center reports to UNOS/SRTR and through the Social Security Death Master File.

4. Detailed Recipient Cohort

   A subset of over 1100 recipients of the Overall Cohort who had transplantation at any of our collaborating transplant centers will comprise this cohort. For the Detailed Subcohort, on-site coordinators will perform manual chart review and abstract more extensive data about each recipient including dialysis indications post-transplant, comorbidities, and specific doses of immunosuppression. For the Detailed Subcohort, we will also collect data on clinical events for up to five years after transplantation, including acute rejection and estimated glomerular filtration rate at the time of transplantation and at months 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48 and 60 months after transplant.

5. Novel biomarkers will be measured in urine and perfusate