Dr. Manikkam Suthanthiran, Dr. Bao-Gui Li, and colleagues in Weill Cornell's Division of Nephrology have developed a new, non-invasive method to detect early signs of acute renal transplant rejection using genetic analysis of urine samples. Currently, the standard method for detecting acute rejection is an invasive needle biopsy of the allograft.
From left: Dr. Manikkam Suthanthiran, Dr. Bao-Gui Li, Dr. Choli Hartono and colleagues have developed a new, non-invasive urine test for detecting early signs of acute transplant rejection in patients with kidney transplants.
The new, non-invasive urine test employs measurements of RNA for cytotoxic proteins in the urinary cells. The researchers' studies using the new method were reported in last week's New England Journal of Medicine ("Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Renal-Allograft Rejection by Measurement of Messenger RNA for Perforin and Granzyme B in Urine," March 29).
"This non-invasive test is an excellent substitute for allograft needle biopsy, and may substantially improve treatment to counter acute rejection episodes," said Dr. Suthanthiran, who is the Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Nephrology at Weill Cornell and head of the Department of Transplantation Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center).
Lead author Dr. Bao-Gui Li is assistant professor of molecular biology in medicine and head of the molecular biology section in Dr. Suthanthiran's lab. Also contributing to the study were co-authors Dr. Choli Hartono, Dr. Ruchuang Ding, Dr. Vijay Sharma, Dr. Ravi Ramaswamy, Dr. Biao Qian, and Dr. David Serur, from the Division of Nephrology; Dr. Janet Mouradian, from Weill Cornell's Department of Pathology; and Dr. Joseph Schwartz, from the Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook.