Kidney-Specific Injury Biomarkers Combined with Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA to Detect Kidney Transplant Rejection and BK Polyomavirus Nephropathy

Purpose: Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a non-invasive biomarker for kidney transplant rejection, but it struggles differentiate kidney injuries. This study investigates combining kidney-specific injury biomarkers (kidney epithelial [kd-epi] and endothelial [kd-endo] cfDNA) with dd-cfDNA to improve the early diagnosis of rejection and BK polyomavirus nephropathy (BKPyVN).