Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the association between endothelial function and the disease progression in the early stage of renal allograft recipients accompanied with severe lung infection. Methodology: Fourteen renal allograft recipients and 32 healthy volunteers were included in this study. The markers of endothelial function including circulating endothelial cells (CECs)，von Willebrand factor (vWF)，soluble thrombomodulin (sTM)，vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) and E-selectin (ES) were assessed at baseline. All of these endothelial function markers were rechecked after 4th、7th、and 14th day after treatment. The number of CD4+、CD8+ T lymphocytes was detected on 1st、7th、14th day after treatment. Results: The patients with renal allograft had significantly higher plasma levels of CECs、vWF, sTM, VCAM and ES when compared to control subjects. The positive rates of CECs、vWF, sTM, VCAM and ES were 78.6％，92.8％，78.6％，85.7％ and 57.1％，respectively. With the improvement of the lung infection，the plasma level of ES was markedly decreased，the other markers were also gradually decreased，but not obviously. The number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was significantly decreased on admission day (p<0.01) compared with those of in the pre-infection periods and the ratio was also markedly decreased at the same time (p<0.01). The number of CD4+，CD8+ T cells and ratio kept growing as the patients were recovering. Conclusion：The endothelial function is an useful marker to evaluate the progression of disease and clinical response to therapy in the early stage of renal allograft recipients accompanied with severe lung infection.