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KIDNEY TRANSPLANT DRUG

A new kidney transplant drug might just make life much easier for kidney transplant patients who have to live with the fear of kidney transplant rejection. People like Edie Hudgins, who cherishes each and every day.
“This is my baby. I started it,” she says, referring to the bookstore she has owned for 15 years. It’s even more precious given her experience two years ago. Edie almost died after an immune condition left her in the intensive care unit. “My kidneys had suffered a lot of damage and I knew they would not recover.” Suddenly, Edie needed to be on dialysis and her life changed in the blink of an eye. Dialysis meant significant time away from the most important things in her life.

But 19 months ago, Edie’s daughter Elizabeth gave her the greatest gift of all- one of her own kidneys. “She gave me my life back. Dialysis keeps you alive, but there’s nothing easy about it,” exclaims Edie.
And then came a second gift, an opportunity to receive a kidney transplant rejection drug that would prevent kidney transplant rejection but cause fewer side effects, making the postoperative course that much easier on patients. As part of a national trial, Edie received this injected kidney transplant drug, generically named LEA29Y. It replaces the old standard kidney transplant drug, cyclosporin. Dr. Christian Larson, a transplant specialist at Emory University Hospital who is studying LEA29Y, says, “Cyclosporin, prevents kidney transplant rejection very well but causes a lot of side effects that are significant, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The severity of the side effects can actually damage the kidney transplant.”
These side effects occur because anti-rejection drugs like cyclosporin act against many different types of cells in the body, and not just immune cells. But if you target the immune system the side effects don’t occur. Normally, immune cells called T-cells release factors that trigger an immune response against the donor kidney. LEA29Y works by blocking signals that activate the T-cells. They remain quiet, and there is no rejection.
So far in an ongoing study, kidney transplant rejection rates have been the same between the two groups of patients, one receiving cyclosporin, the other receiving LEA29Y. It was just that the long term side effects were different. Compared to patients receiving cyclosporin, those getting LEA29Y had lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and they had better kidney function. Dr. Larson believes, “This is potentially of major importance. This would make an enormous difference if these findings bear out in larger trials. What we’re hoping is that these reductions But 19 months ago, Edie’s daughter Elizabeth gave her the greatest gift of all…one of her own kidneys. “She gave me my life back because there is nothing easy about being on dialysis,” exclaims Edie.
And then came a second gift…an opportunity to receive a drug that would prevent rejection but cause fewer side effects and an easier postoperative course. As part of a national trial, Edie received this injected drug…generically named LEA29Y. It replaces the old standard, cyclosporin. Dr. Christian Larson, a transplant specialist at Emory University Hospital who is studying LEA29Y, says, “Cyclosporin, while it prevents rejection very well, causes a lot of side effects that are significant like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and it can actually damage the kidney transplant.”
These side effects occur because anti-rejection drugs like cyclosporin act against many different types of cells in the body not just immune cells. But if you target the immune system the side effects don’t occur. Normally, immune cells called T-cells release factors that trigger an immune response against the donor kidney. LEA29Y works by blocking signals that activate the T-cells. They remain quiet, and there is no rejection.
So far in an ongoing study, rejection rates have been the same between the two groups of patients, one receiving cyclosporin, the other receiving LEA29Y. It was just that the long term side effects were different. Compared to patients receiving cyclosporin, those getting LEA29Y had lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and they had better kidney function. Dr. Larson believes, “This is potentially of major importance. This would make an enormous difference if these findings bear out in larger trials. What we’re hoping is these reductions in better profiles for cardiovascular risk will make patients have fewer cardiac events and hopefully live longer.”
Edie has already seen the amazing results of the kidney transplant rejection drug. “I don’t have any side effects from the treatment at all, and I haven’t since it started. I just feel wonderful. There’s nothing like having your own working kidney,” she says happily.

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