Efficacy and safety of changing from cyclosporine C0 to C2 monitoring in stable recipients following renal transplantation: a prospective cohort study.

Cyclosporine doses can be adjusted individually to decrease the occurrence of rejection and nephrotoxic episodes using concentrations at 2 hours postdosing (C2). However, some transplantation centers still use trough concentrations (C0) to adjust cyclosporine doses among stable renal transplant recipients. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of changing from monitoring C0 to C2 among stable recipients following living relative donor renal transplantation. We enrolled 65 stable renal transplant recipients whose cyclosporine (Neoral) dosages were adjusted by C0, recording their cyclosporine C2 values. They were divided into low (<500 ng/mL, n=25), target (500-600 ng/mL, n=23), or high (>600 ng/mL, n=17) C2 groups. The cyclosporine dose was prospectively modified in the low and high C2 groups; all patients were followed for 12 months. We compared the incidences of complications among their transplanted kidneys and other organs. Among patients in the high C2 group, the C2 target value was achieved by reducing the cyclosporine dose by up to 575.0 mg (mean=33.8 mg/patient); 88.2% of patients showed stable levels of creatinine (Cr) and urea nitrogen (BUN) during the follow-up with decreased blood cholesterol and uric acid levels in some patients, while two subjects suffered acute rejection episodes. Among the low C2 group, the target value was achieved by increasing the cyclosporine dose by up to 755.0 mg (mean=30.2 mg/patient); during the follow-up with 84.0% of subjects displaying stable levels of Cr and BUN, four suffered increasing Cr and BUN values. Although most of stable recipients in this study benefited from C2 monitoring, some patients suffered rejection or nephrotoxicity episodes. One must be cautious to change from monitoring C0 to C2 in stable recipients following renal transplantation.