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LIPID DISORDERS IN KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION: A PERSISTENT CONUNDRUM. IS THERE ANY CONNECTION WITH IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE THERAPY?

IONUŢ-DORIN TARŢA¹, CARMEN DENISE CĂLDĂRARU^1*, MARIA TITICA DOGARU², EMILIAN CARAŞCA³, CRISTINA TARŢA⁴, MIHAI CIPRIAN STOICA¹, GRIGORE ALOIZIU DOGARU¹

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Abnormalities in lipid metabolism are frequent in renal transplant patients, and usually result in high cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of lipid abnormalities in kidney transplant recipients and the influence of immunosuppressive drug regimens on the lipid profile. This is a retrospective study on 50 patients with kidney transplantations. Clinical and laboratory data were studied at 3, 12, 24 and 36 months after transplantation, for changes in lipid profile and the correlation with the immunosuppressive regimen. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 69.69% at 3 months following transplantation. Total cholesterol values at 3 months after transplantation were significantly higher than after 12 months (p = 0.0264), 24 months (p = 0.0009) and 36 months (p = 0.0037). Hypertriglyceridemia was present in 54.54% of the patients at 3 months following the transplantation. Serum triglycerides were higher at 3 months and at 12 months after transplantation than they were at 36 months. Cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive regimen did not confer a more atherogenic lipid profile when compared with tacrolimus in our kidney transplant recipients. Hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia are most common in the first 3 months after transplantation. Our study showed no statistically significant differences in serum lipids in relation to immunosuppression.