Association Between Maintenance Immunosuppressive Regimens and COVID-19 Mortality in Kidney Transplant Recipients

Alexandre O Gérard, Susana Barbosa, Dany Anglicheau, Lionel Couzi, Marc Hazzan, Olivier Thaunat, Gilles Blancho, Sophie Caillard, Antoine Sicard, French SOT COVID Registry, Sophie Caillard, Bruno Moulin, Samira Fafi-Kremer, Marc Hazzan, Dany Anglicheau, Alexandre Hertig, Jérôme Tourret, Benoit Barrou, Emmanuel Morelon, Olivier Thaunat, Lionel Couzi, Pierre Merville, Valérie Moal, Tristan Legris, Pierre-François Westeel, Maïté Jaureguy, Luc Frimat, Didier Ducloux, Jamal Bamoulid, Dominique Bertr, Michel Tsimaratos, Florentine Garaix-Gilardo, Jérôme Dumortier, Sacha Mussot, Antoine Roux, Laurent Sebbag, Yannick Le Meur, Gilles Blancho, Christophe Masset, Nassim Kamar, Hélène Francois, Eric Rondeau, Nicolas Bouvier, Christiane Mousson, Matthias Buchler, Philippe Gatault, Jean-François Augusto, Agnès Duveau, Cécile Vigneau, Marie-Christine Morin, Jonathan Chemouny, Leonard Golbin, Philippe Grimbert, Marie Matignon, Antoine Durrbach, Clarisse Greze, Renaud Snanoudj, Charlotte Colosio, Betoul Schvartz, Paolo Malvezzi, Christophe Mariat, Antoine Thierry, Moglie Le Quintrec, Antoine Sicard, Jean Philippe Rerolle, Anne-Élisabeth Heng, Cyril Garrouste, Henri Vacher Coponat, Éric Epailly, Olivier Brugiere, Sébastien Dharancy, Éphrem Salame, Faouzi Saliba, Alexandre O Gérard, Susana Barbosa, Dany Anglicheau, Lionel Couzi, Marc Hazzan, Olivier Thaunat, Gilles Blancho, Sophie Caillard, Antoine Sicard, French SOT COVID Registry, Sophie Caillard, Bruno Moulin, Samira Fafi-Kremer, Marc Hazzan, Dany Anglicheau, Alexandre Hertig, Jérôme Tourret, Benoit Barrou, Emmanuel Morelon, Olivier Thaunat, Lionel Couzi, Pierre Merville, Valérie Moal, Tristan Legris, Pierre-François Westeel, Maïté Jaureguy, Luc Frimat, Didier Ducloux, Jamal Bamoulid, Dominique Bertr, Michel Tsimaratos, Florentine Garaix-Gilardo, Jérôme Dumortier, Sacha Mussot, Antoine Roux, Laurent Sebbag, Yannick Le Meur, Gilles Blancho, Christophe Masset, Nassim Kamar, Hélène Francois, Eric Rondeau, Nicolas Bouvier, Christiane Mousson, Matthias Buchler, Philippe Gatault, Jean-François Augusto, Agnès Duveau, Cécile Vigneau, Marie-Christine Morin, Jonathan Chemouny, Leonard Golbin, Philippe Grimbert, Marie Matignon, Antoine Durrbach, Clarisse Greze, Renaud Snanoudj, Charlotte Colosio, Betoul Schvartz, Paolo Malvezzi, Christophe Mariat, Antoine Thierry, Moglie Le Quintrec, Antoine Sicard, Jean Philippe Rerolle, Anne-Élisabeth Heng, Cyril Garrouste, Henri Vacher Coponat, Éric Epailly, Olivier Brugiere, Sébastien Dharancy, Éphrem Salame, Faouzi Saliba

Abstract

Background: Solid organ transplant recipients are at high risk for fatal forms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted a cohort study among kidney transplant (KT) recipients from the French Solid Organ Transplant COVID-19 Registry to investigate the association between maintenance immunosuppressive drugs and 60-d mortality.

Methods: Data from all KT recipients with COVID-19 included in the French Solid Organ Transplant COVID-19 Registry between February 28, 2020, and December 30, 2020, were retrieved. We evaluated associations between immunosuppressive drugs and death within 60 d using logistic regression, with all baseline characteristics considered to influence outcome or immunosuppressive regimen. The Benjamini-Hochberg correction was used for controlling false positive rate; 40 multiple imputations were performed. Adjusted P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: There were 1451 KT recipients included. Median age was 58 y, and 66.4% were men. Most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (81.9%), diabetes (34.5%), and cardiovascular disease (29.5%). Median time since transplant was 71 mo. Maintenance immunosuppression regimens included calcineurin inhibitors (1295, 89.2%), antimetabolites (1205, 83%), corticosteroids (1094, 75.4%), mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (144, 9.9%), and belatacept (58, 4.0%). Among 1451 transplant recipients, 201 (13.9%) died within 60 d. Older age and higher baseline serum creatinine were associated with mortality (odds ratios, 1.09 [1.07-1.11] and 1.01 [1.005-1.009], P < 0.001). Corticosteroid-free regimens were associated with a significantly lower risk of death (odds ratio, 0.48 [0.31-0.76]; P = 0.011).

Conclusions: Corticosteroid-free regimens were associated with a lower risk of death in KT recipients with COVID-19. Long-term exposure to corticosteroids impairs immune functions and may predispose solid organ transplant recipients to severe forms of COVID-19.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04360707.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no funding or conflicts of interest.

Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figures

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Graphical abstract

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Source: PubMed

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