Kidney Transplant clinical trials at University of California Health

The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal regimen for the use of siplizumab, a human anti-CD2 antibody, combined with donor bone marrow cells and non-myeloablative conditioning, for tolerance induction in living donor renal transplantation

Some kidney transplant candidates have a very low chance of getting a kidney transplant because their immune systems are "highly sensitized" to most kidney donors. Being "highly sensitized" means that they will likely have to wait a long time (more than 5 years) before an acceptable donor is found for them or, they never receive a compatible donor, and die on waitlist. The purpose of this study is to find out whether two drugs, daratumumab (Darzalex®), and belatacept (Nulojix®), can make these kidney transplant candidates less sensitized, and make it easier and quicker to find a kidney donor for them.

Older patients with end- stage kidney disease (ESKD) are at very high risk for functional impairment. Kidney transplantation (KT) has the potential to ameliorate the detrimental effects of ESKD on physical activity and functional status. However, KT alone may not meet the full extent of this potential, particularly for older or more impaired adults. In fact, activity declines immediately post-KT and fails to return to expected levels even 5 years post-KT. Older patients waitlisted for KT (most of whom are on dialysis) are therefore reliant on their pre-KT levels of exercise, which are also predictive of post-KT mortality. "Prehabilitation" has been used in other surgical populations to minimize functional loss, and a structured exercise program may be beneficial in the pre- KT setting. However, few waitlisted patients are able to participate in typical exercise interventions due to barriers such as severe fatigue. Older patients have additional barriers such as further mobility impairment and requiring substantial caregiver support. Therefore for older living donor kidney transplant candidates, it is necessary to address issues such as specifics of coaching, timing, and importantly, incorporate caregiver participation. The overall objective of this proposal is to adapt a previously developed 8- week, home- based, structured exercise program among older (≥50 years) dialysis patients awaiting living donor KT, with a focus on caregiver involvement. The investigators will trial the exercise program as compared to usual care. The investigators will then pilot the refined intervention in a total of 72 patient-caregiver dyads, 48 of whom will undergo the proposed intervention (24 with caregiver participation, 24 without). The primary outcomes for the pilot will be change in physical performance and activity from baseline to after the intervention, along with measurements of exploratory quality of life outcomes. In addition, the investigators will measure these same outcomes at 3- months post KT to evaluate for a durable effect of the intervention. An additional post-transplantation outcome of interest will be number of days hospitalized within 3 months of transplantation.