Donor Fractions of Cell-Free DNA Are Elevated During CLAD But Not During Infectious Complications After Lung Transplantation

Overview

Journal Transpl Int

Specialty General Surgery

Date 2024 Aug 8

PMID 39114640

Authors

Mirza Novo

Rickard Norden

Johan Westin

Goran Dellgren

Jens Bohmer

Anne Ricksten

Jesper M Magnusson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

During the last few years, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has emerged as a possible non-invasive biomarker for prediction of complications after lung transplantation. We previously published a proof-of-concept study using a digital droplet polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR)-based method for detection of cfDNA. In the current study, we aimed to further evaluate the potential clinical usefulness of detecting chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) using three different ddPCR applications measuring and calculating the donor fraction (DF) of cfDNA as well as one method using the absolute amount of donor-derived cfDNA. We analyzed 246 serum samples collected from 26 lung transplant recipients. Nine of the patients had ongoing CLAD at some point during follow-up. All four methods showed statistically significant elevation of the measured variable in the CLAD samples compared to the non-CLAD samples. The results support the use of ddPCR-detected cfDNA as a potential biomarker for prediction of CLAD. These findings need to be validated in a subsequent prospective study.

Citing Articles

Innovations in Lung Transplant Research and Practice: The Future is Now.

Vos R, Lindstedt S, Levine D, Shigemura N Transpl Int. 2025; 38:14336.

PMID: 39967602 PMC: 11832309. DOI: 10.3389/ti.2025.14336.

Donor-derived cell-free DNA in chronic lung allograft dysfunction phenotypes: a pilot study.

Beeckmans H, Pagliazzi A, Kerckhof P, Hofkens R, Debackere F, Zajacova A Front Transplant. 2025; 3:1513101.

PMID: 39764156 PMC: 11701071. DOI: 10.3389/frtra.2024.1513101.

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