A systematic review on steroid withdrawal between 3 and 6 months after kidney transplantation.
BACKGROUND
Steroid withdrawal (SW) after the first posttransplant months in patients receiving a kidney transplant has been recently discouraged in clinical guidelines.


METHODS
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing SW (beyond the second week after kidney transplantation) was performed. Only trials using a calcineurin inhibitor plus mycophenolic acid were included.


RESULTS
The nine trials (1820 participants) randomly withdrew steroids between 3 and 6 months after transplantation. Death and graft loss were similar in SW and control patients. Including all trials, acute rejection was not more frequent after SW, but stratifying by the drug used, cyclosporine A (CsA) was associated with an increased incidence of overall acute rejection (risk ratio 1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.87) or biopsy-proven acute rejection (risk ratio 1.61 95% confidence interval 1.20-2.17). Contrarily, tacrolimus allowed SW without increased biopsy-proven acute rejection (P interaction=0.005). Serum cholesterol level was lower after SW than in controls using CsA or tacrolimus. Serum creatinine, blood pressure, serum triglycerides, new-onset diabetes mellitus, infections, or malignancies were similar in SW and control patients.


CONCLUSIONS
SW after 3 to 6 months of kidney transplantation is associated with increased rates of acute rejection only if CsA is used but not with tacrolimus. Graft function and survival remain stable up to 3 years after transplantation, the longest follow-up reported. The interest for late SW has decreased during the past years in the literature. More trials with carefully designed outcome measures are needed in patients treated with low-exposure tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid derivatives.
Pascual
Julio
J
Servicio de Nefrología, Hospital del Mar, Institut Municipal d'Asistencia Sanitaria, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. julpascual@gmail.com
Galeano
Cristina
C
Royuela
Ana
A
Zamora
Javier
J
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012449:Safety; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000276:immunology
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine