Pre-transplant whole blood transcriptomic profiling identifies mRNAs linked to cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction as candidate predictors of clinical outcomes after liver transplantation: an exploratory study
Abstract
Cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction (CAID) contributes to poor outcomes after liver transplantation (LT), but pre-transplant immune predictors remain insufficiently defined. We investigated whether pre-transplant whole blood transcriptomic profiling was associated with post-LT outcomes in this exploratory ancillary study of the prospective EDMONHG cohort. Transcriptomic analysis of 26 immune-related genes was performed on 97 LT recipients. PCA and volcano plots identified candidate biomarkers; associations with outcomes were assessed using ROC analyses and Kaplan-Meier estimates with cohort medians as thresholds. PC1 (43.5% of variance) decreased progressively from cACLD to ALF (p < 0.001) and was lower in post-LT infected patients (p = 0.044). Within the first month, 34 patients (35%) developed infections; 7 (7.2%) died within 1 year. Three genes met predefined exploratory criteria (q < 0.10, AUC > 0.65) for infections: GNLY and IL7R were downregulated and IL10 upregulated. Low GNLY or high IL10 expression was associated with reduced 30-day infection-free survival (p = 0.019 and p = 0.013). CIITA, IL10, CD177 and S100A9 showed associations with one-year survival, though results should be treated as exploratory given the limited number of events. Pre-transplant transcriptomics captures CAID severity and identifies candidate gene signatures associated with post-LT outcomes. These hypothesis-generating findings warrant validation in larger multicenter cohorts.
Related
- Transcriptomic analysis identifies STAT1 as a potential key transcriptional regulator of T-cell dysfunction in AIHA
- Multi-Cohort Transcriptomic Integration Identifies Overlapping Immune and Antigen-Presentation Features in Alzheimer’s Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Transcriptomic Analysis of the Newborn Mammary Gland Identifies Prenatal Ethanol-Induced Remodeling of Insulin Signaling and Enhanced Proliferative Programming
- Spatial transcriptomic analysis identifies tnni2a.3 as a candidate associated with intermuscular bone formation in zebrafish
- Pre-transplant bone marrow lymphocyte subsets predict outcome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation
BibTeX
@article{delignette2026pretransplant,
title = {{Pre-transplant whole blood transcriptomic profiling identifies mRNAs linked to cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction as candidate predictors of clinical outcomes after liver transplantation: an exploratory study}},
author = {Marie-Charlotte Delignette and Estelle Peronnet and Arnaud Riff and Teresa Antonini and Maxime Bodinier and Elisabeth Cerrato and Solène Pantel and Elsa Coz and Xavier Muller and Guillaume Rossignol and Jean-Yves Mabrut and Jérôme Dumortier and Céline Guichon and Alice Blet and Frederic Aubrun and Guillaume Monneret and Fanny Lebossé},
journal = {Transplant International},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.3389/ti.2026.16292},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05799844v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pre-transplant whole blood transcriptomic profiling identifies mRNAs linked to cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction as candidate predictors of clinical outcomes after liver transplantation: an exploratory study
AU - Marie-Charlotte Delignette
AU - Estelle Peronnet
AU - Arnaud Riff
AU - Teresa Antonini
AU - Maxime Bodinier
AU - Elisabeth Cerrato
AU - Solène Pantel
AU - Elsa Coz
AU - Xavier Muller
AU - Guillaume Rossignol
AU - Jean-Yves Mabrut
AU - Jérôme Dumortier
AU - Céline Guichon
AU - Alice Blet
AU - Frederic Aubrun
AU - Guillaume Monneret
AU - Fanny Lebossé
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/28
JO - Transplant International
DO - 10.3389/ti.2026.16292
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05799844v1
AB - Cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction (CAID) contributes to poor outcomes after liver transplantation (LT), but pre-transplant immune predictors remain insufficiently defined. We investigated whether pre-transplant whole blood transcriptomic profiling was associated with post-LT outcomes in this exploratory ancillary study of the prospective EDMONHG cohort. Transcriptomic analysis of 26 immune-related genes was performed on 97 LT recipients. PCA and volcano plots identified candidate biomarkers; associations with outcomes were assessed using ROC analyses and Kaplan-Meier estimates with cohort medians as thresholds. PC1 (43.5% of variance) decreased progressively from cACLD to ALF (p < 0.001) and was lower in post-LT infected patients (p = 0.044). Within the first month, 34 patients (35%) developed infections; 7 (7.2%) died within 1 year. Three genes met predefined exploratory criteria (q < 0.10, AUC > 0.65) for infections: GNLY and IL7R were downregulated and IL10 upregulated. Low GNLY or high IL10 expression was associated with reduced 30-day infection-free survival (p = 0.019 and p = 0.013). CIITA, IL10, CD177 and S100A9 showed associations with one-year survival, though results should be treated as exploratory given the limited number of events. Pre-transplant transcriptomics captures CAID severity and identifies candidate gene signatures associated with post-LT outcomes. These hypothesis-generating findings warrant validation in larger multicenter cohorts.
SN - 0934-0874
SN - 1432-2277
ER -