Cyclosporine A and tacrolimus combined with enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium influence the plasma mycophenolic acid concentration - a randomised controlled trial in Chinese live related donor kidney transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE

To observe the different concentrations of mycophenolic acid (MPA) during the early post-transplant phase for various combinations of cyclosporine A (CsA) and tacrolimus (Tac) with enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS).

METHOD

A total of 42 Chinese adults receiving live related donor kidney transplants were studied. All received a triple immunosuppressive regimen of EC-MPS, CsA/Tac and corticosteroids and were divided randomly into CsA (n = 21) and Tac (n = 21) combination groups. The dosage of EC-MPS was the same (1440 mg/day) in the two groups. The MPA concentration was evaluated with an enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) and the pharmacokinetic characteristics were investigated in both groups.

RESULTS

The mean maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax ) of MPA in the CsA and Tac groups were 11.365 ± 9.522 and 9.748 ± 7.523 μg/ml, respectively (p = 0.137). The maximum times to Cmax (Tmax ) were 2.54 ± 1.53 and 2.67 ± 1.08 h, respectively (p = 0.341). The mean MPA 12-h areas under the curve (MPA-AUC0-12 h ) were 59.463 ± 16.252 and 77.535 ± 33.615 μg h/ml (p = 0.003) and the mean residence times (MRT) were 3.71 ± 0.829 and 3.928 ± 0.923 h (p = 0.038).

CONCLUSION

Combined with the same EC-MPS dosage (1440 mg/day), the MPA-AUC0-12 of the Tac group was higher than that of the CsA group, and the Tac group had a longer MRT after kidney transplantation. Our data indicate that the concentration of MPA should be monitored in clinical therapy when EC-MPS is combined with different calcineurin inhibitors to reduce acute allograft rejection and avoid adverse events.