TY - JOUR T1 - Local injections of tacrolimus-loaded hydrogel reduce systemic immunosuppression-related toxicity in vascularized composite allotransplantation. JF - Transplantation Y1 - 2018 A1 - Dzhonova, Dzhuliya V A1 - Olariu, Radu A1 - Leckenby, Jonathan A1 - Banz, Yara A1 - Prost, Jean-Christophe A1 - Dhayani, Ashish A1 - Vemula, Praveen K A1 - Voegelin, Esther A1 - Taddeo, Adriano A1 - Rieben, Robert AB -

BACKGROUND: Routine application of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) is hampered by immunosuppression-related health comorbidities. To mitigate these we developed an inflammation-responsive hydrogel for local immunosuppression. Here we report on its long-term effect on graft survival, immunological and toxicological impact.

METHODS: Brown Norway-to-Lewis rat hind limb transplantations were treated either systemically with daily injections of 1 mg/kg tacrolimus or with subcutaneous intragraft injections of hydrogel containing 7 mg tacrolimus, every 70 days. Animals were monitored for rejection or other pathology for 280 days. Systemic and graft tacrolimus levels, regulatory T cells, and donor cell chimerism were measured periodically. At endpoint, markers for kidney, liver and metabolic state were compared to naïve age-matched rats.

RESULTS: Both daily systemic tacrolimus and subcutaneous intragraft tacrolimus hydrogel at 70 day intervals were able to sustain graft survival for >280 days in 5 out of 6 recipients. In the hydrogel group, 1 graft progressed to grade 3 rejection at postoperative day (POD) 149. In systemic tacrolimus group, 1 animal was euthanized due to lymphoma on POD 275. Hydrogel treatment provided stable graft- and reduced systemic tacrolimus levels, and a 4 times smaller total tacrolimus dose compared with systemic immunosuppression. Hydrogel-treated animals showed preserved kidney function, absence of malignancies or opportunistic infections and increased hematopoietic chimerism compared to systemic immunosuppression.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that localized immunosuppression with tacrolimus hydrogel is a long-term safe and reliable treatment. It may reduce the burden of systemic immunosuppression in VCA, potentially boosting the clinical application of this surgical intervention.

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