title: Impaired renal allograft function is associated with increased arterial stiffness in renal transplant recipients.
abstract: It is important whether impairment of renal allograft function may deteriorate arterial stiffness in renal transplant recipients. In a cross-sectional study, arterial vascular characteristics were non-invasively determined in 48 patients with renal allograft using applanation tonometry and digital photoplethysmography. Mean age was 51 +/- 2 years (mean +/- SEM), and studies were performed 17 +/- 1 months after transplantation. The stage of chronic kidney disease was based on the glomerular filtration rate. We observed a significant association between the stage of chronic kidney disease and arterial stiffness of large arteries S1 and small arteries S2 in renal transplant recipients (each p < 0.05 by non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test between groups). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that male gender of patients with renal allograft (p < 0.01) reduced glomerular filtration rate (p = 0.01), and older age of kidney donor (p = 0.04) were independently associated with an increase of large artery stiffness S1. Furthermore, a significant association between the stage of chronic kidney disease and arterial vascular reactivity during reactive hyperemia was observed (p < 0.05 by non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test between groups). It is concluded that impairment of renal allograft function is associated with an increased arterial stiffness in renal transplant recipients.
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kneifel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scholze
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burkert
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Offermann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rothermund
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zidek
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tepel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous