Impact of time-interval after transplantation and therapy with fibrates on serum cholesterol levels in renal transplant patients.

It is unclear to what extent different immunosuppressive regimens contribute to increased serum cholesterol levels observed in renal transplant patients after prolonged periods of immunosuppression (i.e. 3 and 5 years following kidney grafting). Therefore 2 groups of renal transplant patients were evaluated with respect to serum cholesterol 3 years (n = 103) and 5 years (n = 66) after transplantation: Group 1: prednisone (Pred)/azathioprine (Aza) [3 years (y): n = 52; 5 y: n = 49; mean prednisone dose 12 +/- 1 mg/day]; group 2: cyclosporine A (CsA) alone or in combination with Pred (3 y: n = 51; 5 y: n = 17; prednisone dose 4 +/- 2 mg/day, p < 0.001 vs group 1). The groups were similar with respect to age, sex, body mass index, time interval after transplantation, underlying kidney diseases and concomitant drug therapy. Serum cholesterol levels were persistently higher in patients of group 2 when compared to group 1 (3 years: 7.3 +/- 0.2 vs 6.7 +/- 0.2 mmol/l, p < 0.01; 5 years: 7.5 +/- 0.1 vs 6.6 +/- 0.3 mmol/l, p < 0.01) despite 75% lower daily doses of Pred (p < 0.001) in CsA treated patients (group 2). Before transplantation, patients exhibited a similar distribution of serum cholesterol levels when compared to age, sex and body mass index matched healthy subjects. In contrast 3 and 5 years following transplantation 72% of the patients had serum cholesterol levels above 6.5 mmol/l, whereas in normal subjects, 60% had serum cholesterol levels below 6.5 mmol/l.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)