Immune Development in Pediatric Transplantation (IMPACT)
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00951353 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : August 4, 2009
Last Update Posted : January 3, 2019
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Transplantation is the preferred method of treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in children. Over the past forty years, the use of newer immunosuppressive drugs has decreased the risk for organ rejection considerably, and improved short-term outcomes. However, these costly and complicated life-long treatment regimens also cause serious side effects. This has been particularly true for children, who undergo treatment with these drugs at the same time they are transitioning, physically and emotionally, from childhood to adulthood. These factors lead to significantly reduced life-spans, decreased drug regimen adherence, and an increased need for re-transplantation, as compared with adults.
Current immunosuppressive procedures and strategies for children mimic those for adults, despite the difference between the two populations' immune systems and needs. New strategies aimed at tailoring to an individual child's needs would both reduce the risk of complications and improve outcomes. The purpose of this study is to generate information which will help to change the current practice of pediatric transplantation into one that is more individualized and preventative.
Condition or disease |
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Chronic Kidney Failure End Stage Renal Disease |
Over the past forty years, the use of increasingly effective immunosuppressive drugs has decreased the risk for organ rejection (acute rejection, AR) considerably, and improved short-term outcomes. However, these costly and complicated life-long treatment regimens also cause serious complications in the long-term.
While transplant recipients live significantly longer lives than patients on dialysis, transplant recipients still have much shorter life spans than their healthy counterparts. Among reasons for this difference in life-expectancy are the immunosuppressive-drug related side effects that can lead to complications such as life threatening infections, malignancies, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Additionally, certain drugs used to prevent organ rejection are known to contribute to renal damage, leading many patients to experience graft loss within 15 years. To that end, many children undergoing successful kidney transplantation require re-transplantation as adults. Therefore, while transplantation yields high success rates in the short-term, the drugs that are responsible for this early and temporary success are also the cause of later, serious complications. This is especially true for children, who endure extended drug exposures.
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of viral exposure on children who receive immunosuppressive medications after renal transplantation; study the cellular changes associated with these influences; monitor medication adherence; and observe how all these factors affect the outcome of kidney transplantation in children. The hope is to better understand these processes to optimize future transplant therapies for the pediatric transplant recipient.
This study is designed to observe the immune system response during the first year after kidney transplant. Cells of the immune system in the recipient's blood, urine, and transplanted kidney will be tested to observe how the drugs used to prevent rejection influence them, if these cells change over time, and if they are related to kidney rejection. The comparisons will allow researchers to study how the developing immune system interacts with the kidney transplant. Blood from the kidney donor will be requested so that researchers can study how the recipient's immune system interacts with donor cells.
This study will also look closely at how well participants take prescribed medications. Since transplant medications are known to change the immune system, tests of the immune system cells will be compared to tests designed to measure how accurately medications are taken. Medication adherence will be measured using electronic medication bottle cap records, paper survey results, and drug levels in the blood. In this way, the study team hopes to learn about the impact of children's medications on their immune system.
This study will take place at multiple transplant centers in the United States. It is observational and will involve approximately 75 pediatric renal participants. The study will last for a total of 3 years, which includes a 2 year accrual period and 12 month follow up. Clinical treatment will be determined by standard of care at each participating center. There will be Baseline assessments which will occur before and on the day of transplantation and follow-up study visits will take place at months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 after transplant. Study assessments and specimens will also be collected at the time of each clinically indicated biopsy. Study assessments during these follow-up visits will include vital signs; review of current medications; questions related to adverse events (infection, rejection, graft failure, malignancy); treatment adherence surveys; and specimen collection for local and central laboratory testing.
Study Type : | Observational |
Actual Enrollment : | 125 participants |
Observational Model: | Cohort |
Time Perspective: | Prospective |
Official Title: | Immune Development and Alloimmunity in Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients |
Study Start Date : | July 2009 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | August 2012 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | March 2013 |

Group/Cohort |
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Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients |
- Incidence of biopsy proven and treated (steroid pulse, taper, immunosuppressant medication changes) acute rejection Banff grade borderline or higher [ Time Frame: 6 months after transplant ]
- Incidence of treated, clinically suspected rejection without biopsy [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Incidence of biopsy proven and clinically relevant chronic allograft nephropathy [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Incidence of infection and malignancy [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Incidence of medication non-adherence in pediatric kidney transplant recipients using self report questionnaires and electronic monitoring bottle caps [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Clinical impact of medication non-adherence with regard to the incidence of acute and chronic rejection [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- The degree to which a child's T Cells are predominately naïve, TEM, TCM, or TTM as measured by MFC [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- The heterologous alloreactivity of defined viral T cells for donor and third party alloantigens using MHC tetramers with specificity for CMV and EBV [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- The peripheral blood, urine, and allograft transcriptional phenotypes specific to the MFC-defined T cell phenotype [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Formation of anti-donor HLA, non HLA, and MICA antibodies after transplantation as measured using Luminex platforms and microarray [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Identification of specific proteins in blood and allograft as correlated with rejection [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Barriers to adherence as indicated by AMBS, PMBS, and BMQ questionnaires [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
- Candidate surrogate markers of immunosuppressive medication non-adherence: • Tacrolimus drug level variation • De novo immune activation using real time PCR message for perforin and granzyme B, and • Anti-HLA antibodies [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 1 Year to 20 Years (Child, Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Sampling Method: | Non-Probability Sample |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Parent or legal guardian willing to provide informed consent, if necessary
- 1 to 20 years of age (before 21st birthday) at the time of enrollment
- Undergoing renal transplantation
Exclusion Criteria:
- Need for multi-organ transplantation
- Any prior history of organ transplantation
- Inability or unwillingness of participant of their legal guardian to give written informed consent or comply with study protocol

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00951353
United States, California | |
University of California at Los Angeles/ Mattel Children's Hospital | |
Los Angeles, California, United States | |
Stanford University Medical Center/ Lucille Packard Children's Hospital | |
Palo Alto, California, United States | |
United States, Georgia | |
Emory University/ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta | |
Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
Principal Investigator: | Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD | Emory University |
Study Data/Documents: Study Protocol

ImmPort study identifier is SDY951.

ImmPort study identifier is SDY951.
ImmPort is a long-term archive of clinical and mechanistic data from DAIT-funded grants and contracts. This archive is in support of the NIH mission to share data with the public.
Publications of Results:
Responsible Party: | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00951353 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
DAIT CTOTC-02 |
First Posted: | August 4, 2009 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | January 3, 2019 |
Last Verified: | December 2018 |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | No |
Transplantation Kidney Failure End Stage Renal Disease Pediatric |
Kidney Diseases Kidney Failure, Chronic Renal Insufficiency Urologic Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications |
Urogenital Diseases Male Urogenital Diseases Renal Insufficiency, Chronic Chronic Disease Disease Attributes Pathologic Processes |