Hajira iftikhar
University of Manchester
Title: Circadian regulation of rejection after kidney transplantation
Biography
Biography: Hajira iftikhar
Abstract
Kidney transplants are of the few types of operations that can occur at any time over 24 hours. This retrospective observational study explores the impact of circadian rhythms in generating rejection. Data from 974 transplants that occurred in one hospital unit between 2004 and 2014 was collected and time of organ reperfusion and presence of rejection was recorded. From these records, 89 were those that had inconclusive biopsy results and for these, hospital records were investigated to find the diagnosis. 43 of these patients were those of whom notes were not found and these patients were assumed to not have rejection. Statistical analysis using JTK_cycle and circwave was used to determine involvement of circadian rhythms in rejection and found that there was weak circadian contribution. This weak association is not sufficient to conclude that circadian involvement is important enough to be considered in clinical practise. Therefore, more research is required regarding circadian involvement and transplantation to determine whether these results are reliable. By determining the peak times of rejection, these operating times can be avoided or the patients could be primed to minimise rejection post-operatively. Reliance on patient records may not be the best way to determine circadian involvement due to the heavy dependency on record keeping of other healthcare professionals.