title: Nephrotoxicity following orthotopic liver transplantation. A comparison between cyclosporine and FK506.
abstract: Nephrotoxicity represents a serious side effect of immunosuppression following liver transplantation. In order to compare the nephrotoxic action of CsA and FK506 in a clinical setting, we evaluated the incidence of early and late nephrotoxicity in 121 patients, 60 of whom were randomly assigned to CsA- and 61 to FK506-based immunosuppression. Early postoperative renal insufficiency (between PODs 0 and 30; SCr 1.5-3 mg/dl) was observed to a similar extent in patients treated with CsA (38.3%) and FK506 (42.6%). Early postoperative acute renal failure (ARF) (SCr > 3 mg/dl) was observed in 18.0% of patients in the FK506 treatment group and 18.3% of patients receiving CsA therapy. Approximately half the patients with ARF required hemodialysis (CsA: 11.7%; and FK506: 8.2%). All patients with early postoperative ARF requiring hemodialysis survived for more than one year. New onset of late ARF (between PODs 30 and 365) was observed in 6.6% of patients receiving FK506 therapy and in 1.7% in the CsA treatment group as a result of severe infection with multiple organ failure syndrome (MOFS). There was 100% mortality in patients with late ARF requiring hemodialysis. Etiology and prognosis of early and late ARF seem to be completely different. Early ARF was associated with severe coagulopathy and a rise in bilirubin and free hemoglobin, and was accompanied by impaired liver function. Mean onset of hemodialysis in CsA-treated patients was POD 1 and in FK506-treated patients POD 6, which disclosed a different time course of drug-specific nephrotoxicity of CsA and FK506 in early ARF. In contrast, late ARF occurred in both treatment groups only as a part of the MOFS in association with severe infections, an observation consistent with the assumption of overimmunosuppression rather than a primary nephrotoxic effect. Late renal insufficiency appeared in 23.3% of CsA- and in 29.4% of FK506-treated patients, and represented a slowly progressing form of drug-specific nephrotoxicity of CsA and FK506. These preliminary results demonstrate a similar outcome in terms of both early and late nephrotoxicity, but longer follow-up will delineate the overall efficacy and toxicity in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Free University of Berlin, Universitätsklinikum Rudolf Virchow, Germany.
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Platz
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blumhardt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bachmann
authors.forename: W O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Bechstein
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kahl
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
mesh_terms: D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009102:Multiple Organ Failure / Q000139:chemically induced; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D016572:Cyclosporine; D016559:Tacrolimus