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The United States Renal Data System showed 1.2% and 1.6% incidences of tuberculosis (TB) in patients on peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis (HD), respectively. Kidney transplant (KTX) patients have higher rates. We studied the epidemiology and outcome of TB in patients with kidney dysfunction in a tertiary care hospital in the past decade. We examined data of patients with TB with and without kidney dysfunction from 2006 to 2015 through an electronic system. Statistical analysis was completed using Stata software, Chicago, IL, USA. We found 581 patients with active TB of whom 37 had renal dysfunction including chronic kidney disease, HD, and KTX. No difference was found in the prevalence, age, or gender predilection. The age ranged from 1 to 95 with a mean (standard deviation) of 38.6 (21.1) years. The incidence of TB is 3 per 100,000. The number of patients per year with active TB ranges from 52 to 128 and 3 to 4 in the general population and kidney dysfunction group, respectively. Sixty-five percent of patients with kidney dysfunction had pulmonary TB, 5% had pleurisy, and 30% had extrapulmonary TB. Eighty-four percent of patients with kidney dysfunction completed the course of treatment with 16% treatment failure and 0.4% developed multidrug-resistant TB; 8% were lost to follow-up and 8% died during the treatment period. This study showed no gender predilection for TB in the general population and immunocompromised. Duration of symptoms before diagnosis of TB was shorter in kidney dysfunction patients in comparison to the general population. TB cultures were the most positive tests whereas bronchoalveolar lavage and skin test were the least positive for detecting TB in the kidney dysfunction group. Improvement in registries and screening is required to enhance the capturing rate and detection among this group, as well as providing accurate data

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the effects of combined atorvastatin (AV) with etanercept (ETA) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), who were nonresponders to methotrexate (MTX) therapy, and its effect on disease activity and CD39+ regulatory T-cell (Tregs). Patients and methods This study included 50 patients with active RA. Patients with RA were divided into two groups. Group I (n=25) received MTX therapy plus ETA (50 mg /week) (ETA+MTX) and group II (n=25) received MTX and ETA plus AV therapy (20 mg/ day) (ETA+MTX+AV). In addition, 25 healthy volunteers were used as controls. DAS-28, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, lipid profile, interleukin-6, CD39+ Tregs, ultrasonography 7 score (US7), carotid intima–media thickness, and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery were measured before and after 6 months of treatment. Results After 6 months of treatment, statin therapy combined with MTX and ETA significantly decreased disease activity variables, interleukin-6 and US7 synovitis, and tenosynovitis sum score. In addition, FMD% and CD39+ Tregs were significantly elevated. The increase in CD39+ Tregs was correlated with DAS-28 (P 0.001), FMD% (P<0.05), and US7 synovitis and tenosynovitis sum score (P<0.001) Conclusion Combination therapy with AV and ETA provides an added immunomodulatory benefit through enhancement of the immune suppression mediated by CD39+ Treg cells. Therefore, statins can be used safely with antitumor necrosis factor drugs to control disease activity and atherosclerotic changes in patients with RA, who are treated unsuccessfully with MTX.

We retrospectively compared induction therapy utilizing alemtuzumab and antithymoglobulin (ATG) in high-risk kidney transplant recipients in our center. Two hundred and fifty-one patients underwent kidney transplantation between 2009 and 2012. The high-risk patients were defined as those who had two or more times kidney transplantation and/or more than 30% panel reactive antibody. We studied 130 high-risk kidney transplant candidate; 58 (44.6%) patients received induction immunosuppressive therapy with alemtuzumab, and 72 (55.4%) with ATG. Delayed graft function developed in 11 patients receiving alemtuzumab, against the 27 patients who receiving ATG (P = 0.021). Acute cellular rejection episodes were observed in five patients in the alemtuzumab group and 19 patients in the ATG group (P = 0.009). There were three graft failures in the alemtuzumab group and eight graft failures in the ATG group due to rejection episodes. We found immunosuppressive induction therapy with alemtuzumab a significantly less incidence of acute rejection and delayed graft function than induction therapy with ATG in the high-risk kidney transplant recipients.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia remains a crucial cause of morbidity and mortality in organ transplant recipients. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia occurs most frequently within the first 6 months post-transplant. Onset is generally fulminant, and typical symptoms include fever and productive cough accompanied with respiratory distress. Case Presentation: Here, we present a case of a patient who developed P. carinii pneumonia 18 years after renal transplantation and referred to Taichung Veteran General hospital in Taiwan in September 2015. The disease course was indolent without hypoxemia and dyspnea, mimicking walking pneumonia. The risk factors in our case contributing to P. carinii pneumonia included increased doses of immunosuppressants due to recent rejection, treatment with tacrolimus rather than cyclosporine, lymphopenia, and possibly the occurrence of urothelial carcinoma, implying an immune-deficient state. The inflammatory response of P. carinii pneumonia was not intense and gave rise to an indolent disease course. Conclusions: This case should remind clinicians that P. carinii pneumonia could present atypically in an indolent form many years following organ transplantation, especially when predisposing factors are present. Longer duration of P. carinii pneumonia prophylaxis, especially for high-risk patients such as those with potent immunosuppressive regimen, or those who received recent treatment for acute cellular or humeral rejection may be considered.