title: Influence of treatment with cyclosporine, azathioprine and steroids on chronic allograft failure. The Collaborative Transplant Study.
abstract: The efficacy of different immunosuppressive regimens was analyzed in a multicenter series of cadaver kidney transplants reported to the Collaborative Transplant Study. Induction therapy with steroid-free cyclosporine regimens resulted in significantly better graft survival than induction including a combination of cyclosporine and steroids (P < 0.001) or azathioprine and steroids (P < 0.0001). Because immunosuppressive protocols frequently changed during the first post-transplant year, graft survival from the first to the fifth year was used to analyze the efficacy of long-term maintenance immunosuppressive regimens. Steroid-free maintenance with cyclosporine resulted in significantly better five-year graft survival (P < 0.0001) and patient survival (P < 0.01) than maintenance with steroid-containing cyclosporine regimens or maintenance on azathioprine and steroids without cyclosporine (P < 0.0001). Steroid-free patients received significantly higher doses of cyclosporine than patients on steroid-containing cyclosporine regimens. These results suggest that steroid-free maintenance immunosuppression with cyclosporine should be attempted in patients with an uncomplicated posttransplant course.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation Immunology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Opelz
mesh_terms: D001379:Azathioprine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013256:Steroids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D013256:Steroids; D016572:Cyclosporine; D001379:Azathioprine