Tertiary lymphoid structure signatures are associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor related acute interstitial nephritis

S Singh, JP Long, A Tchakarov, Y Dong, C Yee… - JCI …, 2022 - Am Soc Clin Investig
S Singh, JP Long, A Tchakarov, Y Dong, C Yee, JS Lin
JCI insight, 2022Am Soc Clin Investig
Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are associated with anti-tumor response following
immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, but a commensurate observation of TLS is absent
for immune related adverse events (irAEs) ie acute interstitial nephritis (AIN). We
hypothesized that TLS-associated inflammatory gene signatures are present in AIN and
performed NanoString-based gene expression and multiplex 12-chemokine profiling on
paired kidney tissue, urine and plasma specimens of 36 participants who developed acute …
Abstract
Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are associated with anti-tumor response following immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, but a commensurate observation of TLS is absent for immune related adverse events (irAEs) ie acute interstitial nephritis (AIN). We hypothesized that TLS-associated inflammatory gene signatures are present in AIN and performed NanoString-based gene expression and multiplex 12-chemokine profiling on paired kidney tissue, urine and plasma specimens of 36 participants who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) on ICI therapy: AIN (18), acute tubular necrosis (9), or HTN nephrosclerosis (9). Increased T and B cell scores, a Th1-CD8+ T cell axis accompanied by interferon-γ and TNF superfamily signatures were detected in the ICI-AIN group. TLS signatures were significantly increased in AIN cases and supported by histopathological identification. Furthermore, urinary TLS signature scores correlated with ICI-AIN diagnosis but not paired plasma. Urinary CXCL9 correlated best to tissue CXCL9 expression (rho 0.75, p< 0.001) and the ability to discriminate AIN vs. non-AIN (AUC
0.781, p-value 0.003). For the first time, we report the presence of TLS signatures in irAEs, define distinctive immune signatures, identify chemokine markers distinguishing ICI-AIN from common AKI etiologies and demonstrate that urine chemokine markers may be used as a surrogate for ICI-AIN diagnoses.
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