Discordant rejection in simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation: true discordance or analysis artefact ?

The article by Parajuli et al published in this issue of Transplant International is the latest, and perhaps the most convincing in a relatively small body of literature, to suggest that in a situation of simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK), in which both organs are from the same donor, one organ may be undergoing acute rejection independently from the other (1). The organ hierarchy in immunogeneicity and susceptibility to rejection is a long known biological phenomenon, with the liver at one end of the spectrum and the intestine the other. It was originally thought that such a hierarchy between kidney and pancreas was in disfavor of the latter (2). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.