A little girl’s immune system was “reprogrammed” by her mother before receiving one of her kidneys, a first in the UK.
Aditi Shankar received a stem cell transplant using her mother Divya’s bone marrow, six months before a planned kidney transplant.
The procedure, carried out in London’s Great Ormond Street (OMG), means the eight-year-old’s body accepted the organ as its own, saving her a lifetime of taking anti-rejection drugs.
A year later, she can now behave like a typical girl her age: she enjoys swimming, dancing, and jumping on her trampoline.
Aditi was diagnosed with a rare in three million genetic disease called Schimke Immuno-Osseous Dysplasia when she was five, which affected her immune system and kidneys.
Aditi, 8, with her father Uday and mother Divya photographed at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a year after a life-changing kidney transplant.
Children’s kidney specialist Professor Stephen Marks, pictured with Aditi at a post-transplant appointment. Experts from Gosh’s kidney, immunology and stem cell transplant teams worked with international colleagues to develop a treatment plan that involved a double bone marrow and then kidney transplant.
This meant he had to travel from his family home in Greenford, north-west London, to the children’s hospital for treatment at least three times a week.
In March 2021, his kidney function decreased dramatically, but his immune system was so weak that doctors feared a traditional kidney transplant would not work.
While they provide a vital function after transplant surgery, immunosuppressants work by weakening the body’s immune system, meaning anyone who takes them is at increased risk of infection and other complications.
Experts from Gosh’s kidney, immunology and stem cell transplant teams worked with international colleagues to develop a treatment plan that involved a double bone marrow and then kidney transplant.
He spent four weeks in intensive care after the bone marrow transplant, while constantly undergoing kidney dialysis.
Six months later, in March 2023, Aditi, a keen scrabble player, was well enough to undergo the kidney transplant.
She spent a month taking anti-rejection medications, but because the bone marrow transplant and kidney came from the same donor, her new kidney functions without them.
Divya, 38, said she was “happy and proud” to donate bone marrow and one of her kidneys to her daughter.
Aditi can now behave like a typical girl her age: she enjoys swimming, dancing and jumping on her trampoline.
Divya, 38, said she was “happy and proud” to donate bone marrow and one of her kidneys to her daughter.
The shopkeeper said: “I was very happy to be able to give him blood cells and a kidney.” “I feel very proud.”
Professor Stephen Marks, a pediatric kidney specialist at Gosh, said she is the first patient in the UK to have received a kidney transplant and not require immunosuppressive medication.
“Due to his underlying immune condition, that meant he would not be able to receive a kidney transplant,” he explained.
‘Her immunodeficiency had to be corrected by first obtaining her mother’s bone marrow, and because Aditi was able to accept her mother’s bone marrow, that meant her body was able to see her mother’s kidney as part of her.
‘One month after the transplant, we were able to remove all of his immunosuppression, which means he does not suffer from the side effects of the medications.
“And now, a year after receiving a bone marrow transplant and six months after a kidney transplant, it is very comforting to see her having a good quality of life: going to the beach, singing, dancing and also going to school and be able to do things that normal children do.’
He said it was “exciting” that Aditi had become the first person in the NHS to undergo the procedure.
But he warned that the risks of a double transplant were much higher, so it is likely only to be considered for people with similar conditions, such as compromised immune systems.
Her father, Uday, a 48-year-old chef, said: ‘Most of the support for the family comes from Aditi.
“I was on dialysis for six to eight hours a day and then I would come home and it would still light up the whole house.”
