{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02870533099004101, 'fraction_numerical': 0.00995899238429994, 'mean_word_length': 5.671875, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Longitudinal assessment of T cell inhibitory receptors in liver transplant recipients and their association with posttransplant infections

Current immunosuppression regimens in organ transplantation primarily inhibit T cells. However, T cells are also critical in protective immunity, especially in immune‐compromised patients. In this study, we examined the association of T cell dysfunction, as marked by expression of T cell exhaustion molecules, and posttransplant infections in a cohort of liver transplant patients. We focused on Programmed Death 1 (PD‐1) and T cell Ig‐ and mucin‐domain molecule 3 (Tim‐3), which are potent co‐inhibitory receptors, and their persistent expression often leads to T cell dysfunction and compromised protective immunity. We found that patients with the highest expression of PD‐1 +Tim‐3+ T cells in the memory compartment before transplantation had increased incidence of infections after liver transplantation, especially within the first 90 days. Longitudinal analysis in the first year showed a strong association between variability of PD‐1 and Tim‐3 expression by T cells and infectious episodes in transplant patients. Furthermore, T cells that expressed PD‐1 and Tim‐3 had a significantly reduced capacity in producing interferon (IFN)‐γ in vitro, and this reduced IFN‐γ production could be partially reversed by blocking PD‐1 and Tim‐3. Interestingly, the percentage of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in liver transplant patients was stable in the study period. We concluded that the functional status of T cells before and after liver transplantation, as shown by PD‐1 and Tim‐3 expression, may be valuable in prognosis and management of posttransplant infections.