title: [Elevated cyclosporine A trough levels in HCV positive kidney transplant recipients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Compare the CsA trough levels of HCV+ kidney transplant recipients to a control group
  
  
  METHODS
  All anti-HCV positive patients that received a renal allograft between January 1992 and April 1996 were initially included as cases. Patients with diabetes mellitus, HBsAg+, who were taking medication that could modify CsA pharmacokinetics and those with elevated aminotransferases were excluded. For each anti-HCV positive index case the following transplanted anti-HCV negative patient was included as a control. Third generation ELISA was used for determination of the anti-HCV status and CsA dosages were performed by polarized fluorometry with polyclonal antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No differences in the demographic variables were found. The average CsA through levels in the first month were higher (551 +/- 280 ng/ml) in the 23 cases as compared to the 31 controls (418 +/- 228 ng/ml; p< 0.05). The differences became apparent at the end of the first week (528 +/- 275 versus 344 +/- 283 ng/ml; p<0.01) and persisted at discharge (582 +/-284 versus 457 +/- 229; p=0,08).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that anti-HCV positive patients have higher blood levels of CsA for a particular dosage, than anti-HCV negative controls. Prospective studies with a more appropriate pharmacokinetic approach are needed to confirm the present findings.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Médicas: Nefrologia - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wolffenbüttel
authors.forename: Elsa Alídia Petry
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Roberto Ceratti
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Manfro
authors.forename: Luiz Felipe Santos
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D016572:Cyclosporine