Persistent BK Viremia Does Not Increase Intermediate-Term Graft Loss but Is Associated with De Novo Donor-Specific Antibodies

There are limited data regarding intermediate-term outcomes in patients with persistent BK viremia. Other viral infections have been implicated in the development of allosensitization through heterologous immunity, but the relationship between BK viremia and donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) is unexplored. In 2008, we initiated routine post-transplant BK viremia and DSA screening at our center; 785 kidney or kidney–pancreas transplant recipients were included in our study. Of these recipients, 132 (17%) recipients developed BK viremia during the study period. The median duration of BK viremia was 140 days (interquartile range=40–393 days), and persistent BK viremia was defined as lasting ≥140 days. Kaplan–Meier curves were generated to assess differences in patient and allograft survival on the basis of BK viremia status; survival was modeled using Cox proportional hazard regression. After a median follow-up of 3 years, there was no significant difference in terms of patient (hazard ratio [HR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.28 to 2.49) or allograft survival (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.37 to 1.73) between patients with and without BK viremia, which was confirmed in a time-varying analysis. In our logistic regression model, persistent BK viremia was strongly associated with the development of class II (HR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.30 to 4.98) but not class I (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.46 to 2.77) DSAs. These data suggest that persistent BK viremia does not negatively affect intermediate-term patient or allograft survival but is associated with increased risk for de novo DSA, although the exact mechanism is unclear.