RESEARCH ARTICLE
Intravenous Immunoglobulin in BK Virus Nephropathy
I. Anyaegbu Elizabeth 1, *, P. Hmiel Stanley 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 7
First Page: 129
Last Page: 132
Publisher ID: TOUNJ-7-129
DOI: 10.2174/1874303X014070100129
Article History:
Received Date: 25/9/2014Revision Received Date: 1/10/2014
Acceptance Date: 2/10/2014
Electronic publication date: 31 /12/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The incidence of post transplant viral infections has increased with the use of more potent immunosuppressive regimens. Consequently, BK virus nephropathy (BKVN) has arisen as a significant cause of graft dysfunction and loss. Reduction of immunosuppression is the first line management of post-transplant viral infections. Other therapies such as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), cidofovir, leflunomide and fluoroquinolones have been tried with varying degrees of success.
We report our experience with IVIg in three pediatric renal transplant recipients who presented with allograft dysfunction. First, we describe two cases of biopsy proven BKVN, one diagnosed with undetectable viral titers in plasma, demonstrating that BKVN can occur even at low viral loads. We also present a pediatric renal transplant recipient with persistent BK viremia and allograft dysfunction who responded to therapy with recovery of renal function and clearance of viremia. Therefore we conclude that IVIg is efficacious in the treatment of persistent BK viremia and BKVN. The appropriate dose, frequency and duration of therapy require further study.
