In heart transplant recipients, humoral rejection has been reported to play a role in the donor heart becoming weak in the early post-transplant period, and to be a risk factor for the development of transplant coronary artery disease, which is one of the major factors limiting long-term survival.
The study found no significant differences between treatment groups in survival or incidence of treated cellular rejection. Importantly, there was a significant reduction in any treated rejection in the TAC-treated groups. The category of any treated rejection included both cellular and humoral rejection. Therefore, these results suggested less humoral rejection in the TAC-treated groups.
The study also found that the TAC/MMF group had significantly better kidney function and lower triglycerides levels compared to the other two groups. Rates of post transplant diabetes were not significantly different. Fewer viral infections, but more fungal infections, were found in the TAC/SRL group.
The authors concluded that in heart transplant patients, TAC/MMF appeared to offer more advantages than either TAC/SRL or CYA/MMF, including the lowest incidence of any treated rejection and an improved side effect profile.
Other study authors included Dr. Leslie W. Miller, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; Dr. Stuart D. Russell, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; Dr. Gregory A. Ewald, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; Dr. Mark J. Zucker, Beth Israel Hospital, Newark, NJ; Dr. L. R. Goldberg, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Dr. H. J. Eisen, Drexel University, Phila
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Contact: Amy Waddell
awaddell@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-8672
University of California - Los Angeles
22-May-2005