PossibIe benefit of spIenectomy in Iiver transpIantation for autoimmune hepatitis

Yan-Tian Xu, De-Jie Liu, Fan-Ying Meng, Guang-Bing Li and Jun Liu

Jinan, China

PossibIe benefit of spIenectomy in Iiver transpIantation for autoimmune hepatitis

Yan-Tian Xu, De-Jie Liu, Fan-Ying Meng, Guang-Bing Li and Jun Liu

Jinan, China

Liver transplantation for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is usually successful with excellent long-term outcomes, but primary disease may recur. The recurrence of AIH is a significant cause of graft loss. This study was to analyze the effect of splenectomy in preventing AIH relapse. The clinical courses of 12 patients who had transplantation for AIH were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were subjected to transplantation for end-stage liver disease caused by chronic AIH. Based on the duration of immunosuppressive treatment before liver transplantation, simultaneous splenectomy was performed in ten patients. Two patients underwent liver transplantation without splenectomy, one of them developed recurrent AIH and died from graft failure caused by AIH relapse. However, no episode of AIH recurrence was observed in patients who had undergone simultaneous splenectomy. Splenectomy might be an option to prevent AIH relapse in some patients with high risk factors.

autoimmune hepatitis;

liver transplantation;

recurrence;

splenectomy

Introduction

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a generally progressive, chronic necroinflammatory liver disease of unknown etiology.[1]Aberrant T cellmediated autoimmune reactions against liver antigens not adequately controlled by appropriate regulatory T cells are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of AIH.[2,3]Multiple pathogenic factors have been implicated in the loss of autoimmune tolerance, including genetic predispositions and environmental triggers.[1]Although AIH has diverse clinical phenotypes, ranging from an asymptomatic presentation to an acute severe disease, AIH generally responds to immunosuppressive treatment.[4,5]

Liver transplantation (LT) is required in patients who are refractory to conventional and alternative immunosuppressive therapy and in whom end-stage liver disease develops. However, AIH recurrence occurs after LT despite the use of immunosuppressive drugs.[6,7]The mechanism of AIH relapse remains obscure. Autoimmunologic abnormalities in patients with AIH that can not be corrected by LT may be of major relevance to the primary disease recurrence.[6]

Recurrent AIH often responds to steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy, but some patients may progress to graft failure,[8-10]and patients having retransplantation for recurrence are at particularly a high risk of recurrence again.[11]Hence, further effective treatments are warranted to reduce AIH recurrence. Splenomegaly can be seen in AIH patients with endstage liver disease. Although splenectomy combined with LT is performed for preemptive anti-HCV therapy, for ABO-incompatible grafts, and for small-for-size syndrome,[12]the role of splenectomy in preventing AIH recurrence after LT, especially in AIH patients with steroid resistance, has not been elucidated. The present study aimed to determine the role of LT combined with simultaneous splenectomy in the prevention of AIH recurrence.

Methods

Patients

Twelve adult patients with chronic AIH at the end-stage who had undergone LT at our center from March 2004 to December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical features included ascites, jaundice, low albuminemia, low prothrombin level, liver cirrhosis and hypersplenism. All of the patients had no history of exposure to hepatotoxic drugs or alcohol abuse, anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) were positive, and anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMA), anti-liverkidney microsome type 1 antibodies (ALKM1), alphafetoprotein (AFP) and virological markers for hepatitis B, C and HIV were negative. All of the patients were subjected to immunosuppressive treatment with corticosteroids before LT.

LT was performed with an ABO blood groupcompatible liver graft in all patients. After a long-term immunosuppressive treatment before LT (≥1 year), 10 patients (cases 1-10) underwent a simultaneous splenectomy. Two patients (cases 11 and 12) received a short period of immunosuppressive treatment (＜1 year) and liver transplantation with no simultaneous splenectomy.

After discharge from the hospital, the patients were followed up monthly for the first six months, every other month for another six months, every 3 months in the second year and every 3-6 months afterwards according to their clinical and laboratory data. Follow-up examinations consisted of physical examination, routine blood test, liver and kidney function tests, test of gamma globulin, detection of auto-antibodies, measurement of whole blood tacrolimus, and Doppler ultrasonography of the allograft. We did not perform routine biopsies in view of the risk of biopsy complications. However, post-operative tissues were examined whenever the abnormal liver function was detected. Auto-antibodies were titrated with fluorescence isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated goat anti-human secondary antibodies. The positive cut-off values for ANA, ASMA, and ALKM1 were expressed as a titer ＞1:100.

The diagnosis of AIH relapse was depended on the reappearance of clinical symptoms and signs, the presence of auto-antibodies, interface hepatitis based on histologic analysis, the increased levels of transaminases and immunoglobulin G, response to prednisone and azathioprine, and exclusion of other causes of graft dysfunction.[6,13,14]

Immunosuppressive regimens

All patients received a triple immunosuppressive regimen including tacrolimus (FK506), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and corticosteroids with higher doses and more prolonged courses of corticosteroids compared to those used in patients who received transplantation for other benign liver diseases. Tacrolimus doses were individualized to maintain a target wholeblood trough level of 10-15 ng/mL in the first three months immediately after liver transplantation, 8-10 ng/mL in the following three months, and 5-8 ng/mL subsequently. Intravenous methylprednisolone was administered immediately before perfusion of the graft portal vein at a initial dose of 1000 mg per day, and progressively tapered to a daily dose of 40 mg by 7 days. Then intravenous methylprednisolone was changed to oral prednisone which was maintained at a dose of 20 mg per day in the following three months and then gradually tapered to a daily maintenance dose of 10 mg. The maintenance dose of prednisone was reduced cautiously, while monitoring liver function one year after transplantation. Because inadequate maintenance immunosuppression, especially discontinued use of corticosteroids, was a risk factor for the recurrence of AIH.[13,15,16]MMF was administered at a dose of 1000 mg per day and it was discontinued 3 months after transplantation. The treatment of recurrent AIH was empiric and similar to that of classical AIH. The principal immunosuppressive regimen was to increase the dose of corticosteroids.

Results

All patients were female with a median age of 54.1 years (range 25 to 67). LT was successfully performed in all these patients. Clinical characteristics of the 12 patients are shown in Table 1. Three months after operation, liver function tests were normal or near normal in all patients. The 12 patients were followed up for a mean of49.4 months (range 6 to 117). Case 1 developed superior mesenteric venous thrombosis 19 days after LT and was cured with anticoagulation and thrombolysis. Case 7 developed pulmonary infection 6 months after LT and died of respiratory failure. Other recipients had an uneventful recovery. None of the 12 patients underwent retransplantation. Hypergammaglobulinemia rapidly decreased to the normal level after LT in all patients. Auto-antibodies disappeared slowly in 3 patients, however, persisted at a lower titer than before operation and were of the same type before and after LT in the rest 9 patients. Case 11 underwent LT and had relapse of AIH 26 months after transplantation. She developed severe osteoporosis due to a high dose of corticosteroids and eventually died of graft failure 99 months after transplantation. No AIH recurrence was observed in patients who underwent simultaneous splenectomy (Table 2).

Table 1.Baseline patient characteristics

Discussion

AIH is a relatively rare indication for LT, accounting for 4% of LTs in Europe and the United States.[17]The frequency of AIH recurrence may be institution-specific because of the different management policies and diagnostic criteria and increases with time. It has been reported that AIH occurs in 8%-12% of patients at 1 year and 36%-68% after 5 years.[18]

Multiple risk factors are associated with AIH relapse. AIH sometimes recurred, particularly in chronic versus fulminant AIH patients and in those who had already received retransplantation for recurrence. It was suggested that patients with chronic AIH who required LT continued to have a propensity for immunosuppression resistance, just as they had done before transplantation, whereas patients with fulminant AIH, naive to immunosuppressive therapy, were likely to respond to the immunosuppressive treatment.[11]In addition, incomplete suppression of AIH activity prior to LT was also a high risk factor for AIH recurrence, suggesting that AIH resisted to treatment was more likely to relapse after LT.[14,19]

Our patients achieved good long-term outcomes after LT. Simultaneous splenectomy was performed in AIH patients with long-term immunosuppressive treatment before LT who had a propensity for immunosuppression resistance. Auto-antibodies disappeared in 3 patients probably because autoimmune disorder was inhibited by postoperative immunosuppressive therapy and removal of the target organ. However, auto-antibodies persisted in most patients after LT, indicating that the underlying autoimmune disorder could not be corrected by LT. Long-term steroid therapy was needed to prevent primary disease recurrence. No AIH relapse occurred in patients receiving simultaneous splenectomy in this study. AIH recurrence in case 11 might be related to incomplete suppression of primary disease activity as reflected by high serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) before transplantation. However, although many patients receiving simultaneous splenectomy also had high pretransplant serum levels of AST, ALT and IgG, they did not develop recurrent AIH. Hence, we assume that splenectomy might prevent AIH recurrence after LT in patients with a propensity for immunosuppression resistance or severe AIH. Furthermore, it is also interesting to explore whether patients having simultaneous splenectomy might require a lower maintenance dose of corticosteroids, which could be helpful to reduce side-effects of steroids.

An animal study[20]showed that dysregulated follicular helper T cells in the spleen could directly migrate into the liver and were responsible for the induction of fatal AIH. Moreover, follicular helper T cells in the spleen were responsible not only for the development of AIH but also for relapse after discontinuing treatment with corticosteroids. The splenectomy overcame this insufficiency, suppressed the development of AIH and prolonged the effects of corticosteroids in mouse models of AIH.[21]The similar mechanisms might be involved in AIH recurrence after LT in humans.

Splenectomy increases the risk of post-transplant infection[22]and the incidence of portal vein thrombosis.[23]In addition, simultaneous splenectomy in patients with preoperative prothrombin time of more than 5 seconds,thrombosis of the portal vein, or serious inflammation of the spleen is at a higher perioperative risk.[24]In series, case 1 developed superior mesenteric venous thrombosis and case 7 died of pulmonary infection after LT. Therefore, simultaneous splenectomy should be carefully assessed.

Statistical analysis was not performed in the present study because of the limited number of patients. Further studies are needed to validate the effect of splenectomy in LT for patients with AIH.

In conclusion, splenectomy might be a considerable option to prevent AIH recurrence in some high-risk patients with a propensity for immunosuppression resistance or incomplete suppression of AIH activity before LT.

Contributors:LJ proposed the study. XYT and LDJ designed the study, collected and analyzed the data, and wrote the first draft. LGB contributed to the critical revision of the manuscript. MFY contributed to the design and interpretation of the study. XYT and LDJ contributed equally to this work. LJ is the guarantor.

Funding:None.

Ethical approval:The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affilliated to Shandong University.Competing interest:No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

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近年,一些國家相繼展開了對孟魯司特在特應(yīng)性皮炎中的應(yīng)用,特進行了一定的研究。并且在具體的研究過程中,將疾病的觀察、六區(qū)域六體征評分、濕疹的改良面積、嚴重程度指數(shù)評價方法等作為評價的主要草考指標。

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Received October 21, 2013

Accepted after revision February 10, 2014

(Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2014;13:328-331)

Author Affiliations: Department of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, China (Xu YT, Meng FY, Li GB and Liu J); Department of Anesthesiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China (Liu DJ)

Jun Liu, MD, Department of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, China (Tel: 86-531-87925615; Email: xyt@mail.sdu.edu.cn)

? 2014, Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int. All rights reserved.

10.1016/S1499-3872(14)60256-3