Table 2.
Comparison of cytokine levels in blood samples with and without AT1R-Ab and HLA DSA
| Cytokine | HLA DSA– AT1R-Ab– (n = 126) | HLA DSA– AT1R-Ab+ (n = 81) | HLA DSA+ AT1R-Ab– (n = 14) | HLA DSA+ AT1R-Ab+ (n = 11) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pg/ml | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | |
| TNF-α | 8.8 (5.76–14.4) | 11.11 (7.83–16.56) | 7.8 (5.15–8.48) | 20.44 (5.33–43.05) | 0.023 |
| IFN-γ | 3.57 (0.29–11.37) | 8.52 (4.07–19.84) | 5.88 (0.92–17.5) | 4.13 (0.58–13.35) | 0.006 |
| IL-8 | 6.11 (2.06–16.72) | 19.94 (7.67–46.56) | 7.03 (0.18–41.75) | 10.22 (4.46–65.69) | <0.001 |
| % >LLD | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| IL-1β | 34 (26.98) | 44 (54.32) | 5 (35.71) | 3 (27.27) | 0.001 |
| IL-6 | 32 (25.4) | 34 (41.98) | 4 (28.57) | 5 (45.45) | 0.069 |
| IL-17 | 26 (20.63) | 21 (25.93) | 2 (14.29) | 5 (45.45) | 0.249 |
AT1R-Ab, angiotensin II type 1 receptor antibody; HLA DSA, human leukocyte antigen donor-specific antibodies; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; IQR, interquartile range; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.
For cytokines with <50% of samples above the lower limit of detection (LLD) (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-8) data are summarized as median and IQR and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. For cytokines in which ≥50% of samples were below the LLD (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17) data are summarized as percent positive where positive is >LLD and compared using χ2 test. The comparison of all 4 groups was statistically significant for all cytokines except IL-6 and IL-17.