Serum markers of apoptosis in the early period of heart transplantation

Abstract

Context and objective: To assess the relationship between levels of serum markers of apoptosis and rejection grades in heart transplant (HTx). Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted in 91 HTx. We correlated apoptosis markers and biopsy samples. The apoptosis markers were: TRAIL, TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2, TRAIL-R3, TRAIL-R4, sFas, sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2. Results: The only significant correlation with rejection grade was sFas (r = 0.329; p = 0.005). Cyclosporine showed a proapoptotic effect (sTNF-R1 0.02 and sTNF-R2 0.02) and everolimus an antiapoptotic effect (sTNF-R1 r = −0.523; p = 0.0001 and sTNF-R2 r = −0.405; p = 0.0001). Conclusions: The utility of specific apoptosis markers in peripheral blood for diagnosis of acute cellular rejection is low. Everolimus may have an anti-apoptotic effect.