Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist therapy is associated with prolonged patient and graft survival after renal transplantation.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARB) reduce cardiovascular death in the general population, but data for renal transplant recipients remain elusive. Similarly, ACEI/ARB have been shown to reduce proteinuria, but data on graft survival are lacking. Therefore a retrospective open cohort study was conducted of 2031 patients who received their first renal allograft at the Medical University of Vienna between 1990 and 2003 and survived at least 3 mo. Patient and graft survival was compared between patients with versus without ACEI and/or ARB therapy. Data were analyzed with and without propensity score models for ACEI/ARB therapy. Medication and comorbidities were analyzed as time-dependent variables in the Cox regression analyses. Ten-year survival rates were 74% in the ACEI/ARB group but only 53% in the noACEI/ARB group (P<0.001). The hazard ratio (HR) of ACEI/ARB use for mortality was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40 to 0.81) compared with nonuse. Ten-year actual graft survival rate was 59% in ACEI/ARB patients but only 41% in nonusers (P=0.002). The HR of actual graft failure for ACEI/ARB recipients was 0.55 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.70) compared with nonusers; the HR of functional graft survival was 0.56 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.78). Ten-year unadjusted functional graft survival rates were 76% among ACEI/ARB patients and 71% in noACEI/ARB recipients (P=0.57). In summary, the use of ACEI/ARB therapy was associated with longer patient and graft survival after renal transplantation. More frequent use of these medications may reduce the high incidence of death and renal allograft failure in these patients.
Core Unit of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Department of Nephrology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Georg
G
Heinze
Christa
C
Mitterbauer
Heinz
H
Regele
Reinhard
R
Kramar
Wolfgang C
WC
Winkelmayer
Gary C
GC
Curhan
Rainer
R
Oberbauer
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011336:Probability; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate
D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors