title: Maintenance immunosuppressive treatment and graft half-life.
abstract: Longer graft half-lives were associated with Caucasian race, living donors, younger donor age. The HLA-matching effect on graft half-life was only significant when comparing HLA-matched transplant recipients with recipients of HLA-mismatched transplants, but not significant between mismatched recipients with varying degrees of HLA mismatch. First transplant recipients maintained on newer post-1995 immunosuppressive drug therapies, including tacrolimus, MMF and steroids, Neoral, MMF and steroids or Neoral, azathioprine and steroids, always had longer graft half-lives than patients on pre-1995 CsA protocols. The difference in graft half-lives between new and old protocols reached statistical significance in some categories. Patients on triple therapies had consistently longer graft half-lives than those receiving double therapies.
authors.affiliation: Terasaki Foundation Laboratory, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Junchao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Gjertson
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Terasaki
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D002102:Cadaver; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006085:Graft Survival; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D019520:Living Donors; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents