Donor-specific cell-free DNA qPCR quantification as a noninvasive accurate biomarker for early rejection detection in liver transplantation

Abstract

Background: Graft-cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the circulation of liver transplant recipients has been proposed as a noninvasive biomarker of organ rejection. The aim of this study was to detect donor-specific cfDNA (ds-cfDNA) in the recipient’s serum after either liver damage or rejection using a qPCR-based method. (2) Methods: We proposed a qPCR method based on the amplification of 10 specific insertion–deletion (InDel) polymorphisms to detect donor-specific circulating DNA diluted in the recipient cfDNA. ds-cfDNA from 67 patients was evaluated during the first month post-transplantation. (3) Results: Graft rejection in the first month post-transplantation was reported in 13 patients. Patients without liver complications showed a transitory increase in ds-cfDNA levels at transplantation. Patients with rejection showed significant differences in ds-cfDNA increase over basal levels at both the rejection time point and several days before rejection. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that ds-cfDNA levels discriminated rejection, with an AUC of 0.96. Maximizing both sensitivity and specificity, a threshold cutoff of 8.6% provided an estimated positive and negative predictive value of 99% and 60%, respectively. (4) Conclusions: These results suggest that ds-cfDNA may be a useful marker of graft integrity in liver transplant patients to screen for rejection and liver damage.