title: Induction immunosuppressive therapy in renal transplantation: does basiliximab make the difference?
abstract: The optimal prophylactic induction immunosuppressive therapy to prevent renal transplant rejection remains controversial. Recently, basiliximab efficiency has been reported in several studies. We sought to evaluate the efficiency of induction immunosuppressive therapy with basiliximab in renal transplantation in our unit based upon the acute rejection rate, patient and graft survivals, first hospital admission length, and incidence of infectious or malignant complications during 4 years of follow-up. We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of two groups of renal transplant recipients treated with triple immunosuppressive therapy (cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisolone) without (group 1, 149 patients) or with (group 2, 104 patients) induction immunosuppression with basiliximab. The two groups did not differ in demographic characteristics, number of hypersensitized patients, cold ischemia time, or donor age. The group receiving basiliximab displayed a significantly lower acute rejection rate (7.6% vs 24%, P = .001) and shorter first hospital admission (14.4 +/- 8 vs 19.5 +/- 11 days). There was no difference in graft or patient survival, death due to sepsis, or incidence of posttransplant malignancies. Although there was no difference in graft or patient survival, immunosuppressive induction therapy with basiliximab yielded a significant reduction in the acute rejection rate.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nefrologia e Transplantação Renal, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisboa, Portugal. sofiacjorge@sapo.pt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mil-Homens
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Prata
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077552:Basiliximab; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000379:methods; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D016572:Cyclosporine; D000077552:Basiliximab; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid