The purpose of this study is to determine if anti-thymocyte globulin (Thymoglobuline) administration in the kidney transplant recipient is able to reduce the amount of damage that kidneys transplanted from deceased donors sustains on reperfusion.
The increasing disparity between organ availability and the number of patients on waiting list for a transplant has led to different strategies to improve half life of all transplants. One such method is to reduce the amount of damage the organ sustains during the period of preservation and reperfusion in the recipient. Thymoglobulin, an anti-lymphocyte antibody has been shown to have the ability to reduce this damage in experimental studies. This study aims to ascertain the role of Thymoglobulin in kidney transplants from donors after cardiac death, the type of kidney transplants at highest risk of sustaining injury during preservation. The study will involve comparison with conventional immunosuppressant therapy, comparison between Thymoglobulin administered in different doses, and observation of the patterns of blood cell repopulation (lymphocytes mainly) in the first year following kidney transplantation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
Thymoglobulin 1.5mg/kg, 4 doses Thymoglobulin 6mg/kg, single dose
Intravenous 20mg, day 0\&4
Oxford Transplant Centre, Churchill Hospital
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
delayed graft function
Time frame: 7 days
steroid avoidance
Time frame: 1 year
lymphocyte repopulation
Time frame: 1 year
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