Monocyte-mediated acute renal rejection after combined treatment with preoperative Campath-1H (alemtuzumab) and postoperative immunosuppression.

Campath-1H (alemtuzumab), a humanized monoclonal antibody against CD52, can cause more profound depletion of lymphocytes than monocytes. The resultant imbalance of lymphocytes and monocytes after Campath-1H treatment of a renal-transplant recipient may lead to an acute rejection dominated by monocytes. We report such a case of acute transplant rejection in a 49-yr-old man who received a living non-related kidney transplant and was treated with preoperative Campath-1H and postoperative immunosuppression. An initial post-transplant renal biopsy showed diffuse mild acute rejection with 95% CD68-positive monocytes, but only 5% CD3-positive T lymphocytes. Inflammatory cells in the renal biopsy were negative for CD34 and CD1a stains, suggesting non-involvement of CD34-derived dendritic cells in the acute rejection. After steroid treatment for 2 wk, the patient's serum creatinine concentration diminished to 1.5 mg/dl. The histopathological features of acute rejection were absent in a second biopsy of the transplanted kidney. In summary, this case is an instance of monocyte-mediated acute rejection of a transplanted kidney.