Bordeaux within a scientific collaboration for kidney transplantation

A kidney transplant has a lifespan of about 12 years, and the causes of graft rejection are often unknown. Hence the importance of the French research project KTD-innov, which focuses on the mechanisms of rejection of renal allografts.

KTD-innov is led by a French public-private consortium composed of research teams, clinical centres and industrial partners.

The project demonstrates the collaboration of stakeholders across all territories. Aquitaine is not to be outdone. The Bordeaux University Hospital was involved in this project from the beginning with the research team of Prof. Lionel Couzi and Prof. Pierre Merville.

Collaborative and sustainable research on graft rejection in Bordeaux

The Bordeaux University Hospital's participation in the KTD-innov project was a natural collaboration between Prof. Couzi and the two co-coordinators of the project, Drs Alexandre Loupy and Sophie Brouard.

Thanks to this funding, the Bordeaux University Hospital has joined a partnership with other university hospitals, such as those in Lyon, Nantes, Toulouse, Montpellier and the APHP.

At the Bordeaux University Hospital, the team of Prof. Couzi and Prof. Merville is conducting translational research with the CNRS-UMR 5164 ImmunoConcept unit led by Dr. Julie Déchnet-Merville on cytomegalovirus infection, an infection particularly common in renal transplant patients.

Other research themes of the service include humoral rejection mediated by anti-HLA antibodies, which is at the centre of the KTD-innov study. The participation of the University Hospital of Bordeaux in the KTD-innov project will therefore help to consolidate a team of researchers thanks to stable funding for a project over several years.

Within the team at the University Hospital of Bordeaux led by Prof. Couzi and Prof. Merville, 11 people are working on the KTD-innov project, including three clinical research associates. Accompanied by several co-investigators, they are responsible for accompanying transplant patients in their voluntary participation in the KTD-innov study.

The collection of this data is essential for the progress of the research project, because it is the basis on which it is based. As in six transplant centers in France, the team of Prof. Couzi and Merville collects clinical, biological, immunological and molecular data from kidney transplant patients. These data are then anonymized before being analyzed by Inserm, Nantes University Hospital, APHP and Bio-Rad. It is by analyzing these data that researchers hope to gain a better understanding of the complex causes of renal transplant rejection.

The KTD-innov project has a great impact on the different parties involved in the research

For Prof. Couzi, the KTD-innov project has enormous benefits for patients because it offers a better definition of the diagnosis of rejection and should lead to improved patient care. Today, as life expectancy increases, the life expectancy of a transplanted kidney is only about a dozen years on average. It is therefore urgent to better diagnose the signs of rejection in order to better manage them and thus prolong the life of kidney transplants.

Prof. Couzi adds that KTD-innov is "the most ambitious French multi-centre, academic study that has received the most funding over the past 20 years".

The project has clear societal benefits, particularly in addressing the current shortage of organ donation. More and more patients around the world need an organ transplant, but unfortunately the supply is not able to meet this increased demand. That is why this project to predict graft rejection is important, not only on a French scale but also on a global scale.

"By using [kidneys] better, we will be able to transplant more people."

Research for patients in France and around the world

The KTD-innov project will generate knowledge in kidney transplantation that will be useful for medical professionals in the decades to come. It also has the potential to disrupt the way kidney transplants are treated in the short and long term.

The success of the project favors the financing of other large scale and high potential studies. The consortium has a "significant impact on French scientific reputation in kidney transplantation". It therefore contributes to strengthening the dynamism of research in Bordeaux, and of French research centres in general, in the field of kidney transplantation, thus strengthening their positions as major players in the world.