BICD1 and Chromosome 18 Polymorphisms Associated With Recipients' Telomere Length Affect Kidney Allograft Function After Transplantation

• Genetic factors affecting telomerase activity can influence renal allograft function.
• Presence of A allele in relevant chromosome 18 polymorphism was significantly associated with risk of DGF.
• C allele of BICD1 gene polymorphism was associated with worse long allograft function.
• hTERT polymorphism does not affect kidney allograft function.

BackgroundReports regarding recipient's nonmodifiable genetic factors affecting telomerase activity and thus allograft function are lacking. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyze the associations between recipients' rs2735940 hTERT, rs2630578 BICD1, and rs7235755 chromosome 18 polymorphisms and kidney function after transplantation.MethodsThe study enrolled 119 white Polish kidney allograft recipients (64 men, 55 women; overall mean age, 47.3 ± 14.0 y). To identify genotypes of the studied polymorphisms, real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed.ResultsThere were statistically significant differences in distribution of rs7235755 chromosome 18 polymorphism genotypes and alleles between recipients with delayed graft function (DGF) and without DGF (P = .03). The presence of A allele was significantly associated with higher risk of DGF occurrence (AA + GA vs GG: OR, 3.25 [95% CI, 1.16–9.14]; P = .02; GA vs GG: OR, 4.00 [1.35–11.82]; P = .01). Analysis of the rs2630578 BICD1 gene polymorphism genotypes revealed statistically significant differences in long-term creatinine concentrations. The presence of C allele of this polymorphism was significantly associated with higher creatinine concentrations 24, 36, and 18–48 months after transplantation (GC + CC vs GG: P = .008, P = .008, and P = .01, respectively).ConclusionsRecipients' polymorphisms of genes associated with telomere length, BICD1 and chromosome 18, but not hTERT, affect kidney allograft early and long-term function after transplantation. There is an urgent need for explanation of these observations in genome-wide association studies.