Abstract:

BACKGROUND: A large number of researches have confirmed that hypertension, vascular nephrosclerosis and chronic systemic inflammatorome were the importance factors of chronic allograft dysfunction. Hyperuricemia is associated with primary hypertension and vascular nephrosclerosis, and can result in chronic systemic inflammatorome, but it was uncertain whether post-transplantation hyperuricemia and its lesion influence the long term graft function.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of hyperuricemia in renal transplant recipients (RTRs) before and after transplantation and the influence of hyperuricemia on long term graft function.
METHODS: A total of 216 renal transplant recipients [146 males with the mean age of (40.98±11.09) years and 70 females with mean age of (40.01±11.62) years] with normal renal function after transplantation were selected from PLA Center of Kidney Transplantation and Dialysis, the 181 Hospital of Chinese PLA. In order to compare the influence of different hyperuricemia status on the long term graft function, the patients were divided into 4 groups according their pre-transplant baseline and post-transplant serum uric acid (SUA) levels, SUA normal group, pre-transplant high SUA group, post-transplant high SUA group and both pre-transplant and post-transplant high SUA group. The patients were also divided into 3 groups according to their post-transplantation SUA level to study the influence of SUA on the long term graft function, normal SUA group, hyperuricemia (SUA < 500 μmol/L) group and hyperuricemia (SUA > 500 μmol/L) group. Effects of hyperuricemia and SUA levels pre- and post-transplantation on long term graft function were observed.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hyperuricemia existed in 34.2% male RTRs and 37.7% females before transplantation, while it existed in 36.2% male RTRs and 42.4% females at the first month post-transplantation when they had normal Scr levels. The incidence rate of post-transplant hyperuricemia in female RTRs was significantly higher than male RTRs (P < 0.05). The average post-transplantation SUA levels in both male and female RTRs were significantly higher than those before transplantation (P < 0.01). At follow-up end, the pre-transplantation SUA levels did not significantly influence on the long term graft function (P > 0.05), meanwhile the RTRs with continuous post-transplant hyperuricimia had poorer long term graft function than those with normal post-transplantation SUA levels. It is indicated that hyperuricemia is more common in post-transplantation recipients, especially in female RTRs, when compared to pre-transplantation, and post-transplantation hyperuricemia often existed in renal transplant recipients with normal graft function. Furthermore it is suggested that post-transplantation hyperuricimia, but not pre-transplantation hyperuricemia, could also act as a factor inducing chronic renal allograft dysfunction.