About the group
The research group carries out epidemiological and clinical outcome studies in kidney transplantation, pancreas transplantation and islet transplantation.
Data from the Norwegian Renal Registry (which is updated yearly) together with data from a local biobank are generated, together with RCTs and observational studies.
The studies focus on immunotherapy, pharmacokinetics, pharmacotherapeutic modelling and metabolism, in particular post-transplant bone disease metabolism and also post-transplant diabetes (PTDM).
Projects
- A blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trial of treatment with the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin 10 mg od vs. placebo 6 weeks after kidney transplantation. Altogether 330 patients will be included and followed for altogether 3 years. The study will run through 2028. Inclusion of patients started in May 2023, and by Dec 31 2023, altogether 68 patients had been included in the study.
- The EU project ‘Diabetes, Obesity and the Kidney’ (DOKI) started in 2023. The DOKI project includes three partners: The University Hospital of La Laguna (Tenerife, Professor Esteban Porrini), University Hospital of Copenhagen (Professor Mads Hornum, Department of Nephrology) and us (Professor Trond G Jenssen). The project will run for three years, and the major scope is to improve knowledge and intervention on the risk that diabetes and obesity together pose on the development of chronic kidney disease.
Studies
- SIMPLIFY study: Simplification of the plasma clearance of iohexol
- Patiromer PK study: Effect of patiromer on pharmacokinetics of immunosuppressive drugs in renal transplant recipients
- Hypomagnesemia as a risk factor for development of posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PhD project Rasmus Kirkeskov Carlsen)
- The microbiome and gut metabolism of mycophenolate acid
- Covid-19 vaccine study among kidney transplant recipients
- EVITA (Epstein-Barr virus infection monitoring in renal transplant recipients)
- BONTRAX – 10 years follow-up of bisphosphonate treatment in kidney transplant recipients
- Home Based Monitoring – patient centric sampling for analyses of tacrolimus, creatinine and hemoglobin
- Post-transplant diabetes mellitus
- Kidney rejection and immunity
- Individualization of immunosuppression, also with home based blood sampling (MitraTip®)
- Biomarkers of outcomes after transplantation
- Measured GFR by iohexol plasma clearance vs. estimated glomerular filtration rate
- Evaluation and follow-up of kidney donors (ALDON Study)
- Long-term effects and safety with human pancreas transplantation
- Hip and knee surgery in ESKD patients on Renal Replacement Therapy (Ine Bøe)
- Detecting local and systemic fluid accumulation with a wearable bioimpedance sensor in patients with fluid management problems (Hege Pihlstrøm)
- VVX-880: A phase 1 / 2 clinical trial stem-cell derived, fully differentiated islet cell therapy in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with impaired hypoglycemic awareness and severe hypoglycemic events (Trond G. Jenssen).
In relation to these topics altogether 50 peer-reviewed papers were published in international journals in 2023.
Our biobank was expanded, and we have established valid measures for long-term outcome after transplantation (e.g., GFR, pharmacological and metabolic measures, inflammation parameters, etc.).
The receival of an EU grant as partner in a twinning project of the Horizon program: Diabetes, Obesity & the Kidney (DOKI), and the receival of a large grant from KLINBEFORSK (see above) has increased our ability to perform studies on a higher level internationally than before.
Cooperation
Internal
- Section of Endocrinology
- Section of Transplant surgery
- Department of Pathology
- Department of Immunology
- Department of Pediatrics
National
- University of Oslo, AHUS - Renal research Group
- University of Tromsø- Renal research Group
- University of Bergen- Department of nephrology
- University of Stavanger, Department of nephrology
- School of Pharmacy, UiO
- Department of Nutrition, UiO
International
- Laboratory for Applied Pharmacokinetics and Bioinformatics, University of Southern California
- Professor Esteban Porini, La Laguna University, Tenerife, Spain
- Professor Manfred Hecking, Medical Universtiy of Vienna, Austria
- CHU Limoges, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Limoges, France
- Andreas Paasch, Caltec, Basel
- Professor Filip Knop, Center for Diabetes Research, Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen
- Professor Bo Feldt-Rasmussen, Department of Nephrology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen
Publications
- Blom KB, Birkeland GK, Midtvedt K, Jenssen TG, Reisæter AV, Rollag H, Hartmann A, Sagedal S, Sjaastad I, Tylden G, Njølstad G, Nilsen E, Christensen A, Åsberg A, Birkeland JA. Cytomegalovirus High-risk Kidney Transplant Recipients Show No Difference in Long-term Outcomes Following Preemptive Versus Prophylactic Management. Transplantation 2023;107:1846-1853
- Vethe NT, Åsberg A, Andersen AM, Heier Skauby R, Bergan S, Midvedt K. Clinical performance of volumetric finger-prick sampling for the monitoring of tacrolimus, creatinine and haemoglobin in kidney transplant recipients. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2023;89:3690-3701
- Heldal TF, Åsberg A, Ueland T, Reisæter AV, Pischke SE, Mollnes TE, Aukrust P, Reinholt F, Hartmann A, Heldal K, Jenssen TG. Systemic inflammation early after kidney transplantation is associated with long-term graft loss: a cohort study. Front Immunol 2023 Oct 2:14:1253991. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1253991. eCollection 2023
- Hovd M, Åsberg A, Munthe LA, Heldal K, Reisæter AV, Vaage JT, Lund-Johansen F, Midtvedt K. Humoral vaccine response and breakthrough infections in kidney transplant recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide cohort studEClinicalMedicine. 2023 Jun:60:102035. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102035. Epub 2023 Jun 6.
- Strømmen RC, Godang K, Finnes TE, Smerud KT, Reisæter AV, Hartmann A, Åsberg A, Bollerslev J, Pihlstrøm HK. Trabecular Bone Score Improves Early After Successful Kidney Transplantation Irrespective of Antiresorptive Therapy and Changes in Bone Mineral Density. Transplant Direct 2023 Dec 18;10(1):e1566. doi: 10.1097/TXD.0000000000001566.