Early post-operative intravenous tacrolimus in pediatric liver transplant recipients is not superior to oral tacrolimus
Tarek Abdelazeem Sabra
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Department of General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery Unit, Graduate School of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
Al-Rajhi Liver Institute, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hideaki Okajima
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Correspondence
Hideaki Okajima, Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAtsushi Yoshizawa
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorEri Ogawa
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorShinya Okamoto
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorMohamed Abdelkader Osman
Department of General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery Unit, Graduate School of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorYasser Saad-Eldin
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorShinji Uemoto
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorTarek Abdelazeem Sabra
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Department of General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery Unit, Graduate School of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
Al-Rajhi Liver Institute, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hideaki Okajima
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Correspondence
Hideaki Okajima, Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAtsushi Yoshizawa
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorEri Ogawa
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorShinya Okamoto
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorMohamed Abdelkader Osman
Department of General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery Unit, Graduate School of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorYasser Saad-Eldin
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorShinji Uemoto
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
We aimed to compare the early results of i.v. with p.o. TAC as a primary immunosuppressant in pediatric patients undergoing LT. This retrospective study enrolled 75 children who underwent LT and received TAC-steroid regimens as a primary immunosuppressant between September 2011 and October 2015 at our institution. Thirty-five recipients received TAC i.v. and 40 received TAC p.o. Early results were evaluated and compared, including ACR, EBV, or CMV infection; renal adverse effects; and hospital stay. Comparisons of 90-day post-transplant results showed that the rates of overall viral (74% vs 40% P < 0.002), EBV (46% vs 17.5% P < 0.008), and CMV (51% vs 30% P = 0.05) infections were significantly higher in the i.v. than in the p.o. group. Neither regimen has any adverse effects on renal function. There were no between-group differences in ACR incidence and severity, serum creatinine concentration, and hospital stay. Patient and graft survival rates at 3 months and 1 year did not differ significantly between the two groups. Compared with p.o. treatment, i.v. administration of high TAC concentration did not have beneficial post-transplant effects on ACR incidence and severity, while increasing the incidence of viral infections in pediatric LT.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors of this manuscript declare no conflicts of interest.
REFERENCES
- 1Moini M, Schilsky ML, Tichy EM. Review on immunosuppression in liver transplantation. World J Hepatol. 2015; 7(10): 1355-1368.
- 2Jain A, Reyes J, Kashyap R, et al. What have we learned about primary liver transplantation under tacrolimus immunosuppression? Ann Surg. 1999; 230(3): 441.
- 3Jain AB, Todo S, Fung JJ, et al. Correlation of rejection episodes with FK 506 dosage, FK 506 level, and steroids following primary orthotopic liver transplant. Transplant Proc. 1991; 23(6): 3023-3025.
- 4Ojo A, Held P, Port F, et al. Chronic renal failure after transplantation of a nonrenal organ. N Engl J Med. 2003; 349(10): 931-940.
- 5Lu BR, Park KT, Hurwitz M, Cox KL, Berquist WE. Impact of immunosuppression on the development of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viremia after pediatric liver transplantation. Transplant Proc. 2013; 45(1): 301-304.
- 6Wallin JE, Friberg LE, Fasth A, Staatz CE. Population pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: new initial dosage suggestions and a model-based dosage adjustment tool. Ther Drug Monit. 2009; 31(4): 457-466.
- 7Przepiorka D, Blamble D, Hilsenbeck S, Danielson M, Krance R, Chan KW. Tacrolimus clearance is age-dependent within the pediatric population. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2000; 26(6): 601-605.
- 8McVicar JP, Kowdley KV, Bacchi CE, et al. The natural history of untreated focal allograft rejection in liver transplant recipients. Liver Transpl Surg. 1996; 2(2): 154-160.
- 9Sano K, Tanaka K, Uemoto S, et al. Cytomegalovirus infection in living related liver transplantation: rapid diagnosis by human monoclonal antibody staining of blood leucocytes. Transpl sci. 1994; 4(1): 105-111.
- 10Stevens S, Verschuuren EA, Verkuujlen SA, Van Den Brule AJ, Meijer CJ, Middeldorp JM. Role of Epstein-Barr virus DNA load monitoring in prevention and early detection of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease. Leuk Lymphoma. 2002; 43(4): 831-840.
- 11Rodríguez-Perálvarez M, Germani G, Darius T, Lerut J, Tsochatzis E, Burroughs AK. Tacrolimus trough levels, rejection and renal impairment in liver transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Transplant. 2012; 12: 2797-2814.
- 12Turner AP, Knechtle SJ. Induction immunosuppression in liver transplantation: a review. Transpl Int. 2013; 26(7): 673-683.
- 13Cacciarelli TV, Esquivel CO, Cox KL, et al. Oral tacrolimus (FK506) induction therapy in pediatric orthotopic liver transplantation. Transplantation. 1996; 61(8): 1188-1192.
- 14Inomata Y, Tanaka K, Egawa H, et al. The evolution of immunosuppression with FK506 in pediatric living related liver transplantation. Transplantation. 1996; 61(2): 247-252.
- 15Staatz CE, Taylor PJ, Lynch SV, Tett SE. A pharmacodynamic investigation of tacrolimus in pediatric liver transplantation. Liver Transplant. 2004; 10(4): 506-512.
- 16Shaked A, Ghobrial RM, Merion RM, et al. Incidence and severity of acute cellular rejection in recipients undergoing adult living donor or deceased donor liver transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2009; 9(2): 301-308.
- 17Busuttil RW, Colonna Ii JO, Hiatt JR, et al. The first 100 liver transplants at UCLA. Ann Surg. 1987; 206(4): 387-402.
- 18Kershner RP, Fitzsimmons WE. Relationship of FK506 whole blood concentrations and efficacy and toxicity after liver and kidney transplantation. Transplantation. 1996; 62(7): 920-926.
- 19Venkataramanan R, Shaw LM, Sarkozi L, et al. Clinical utility of monitoring tacrolimus blood concentrations in liver transplant patients. J Clin Pharmacol. 2001; 41(5): 542-551.
- 20Benitez CE, Puig-Pey I, Lopez M, et al. ATG-fresenius treatment and low-dose tacrolimus: results of a randomized controlled trial in liver transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2010; 10(10): 2296-2304.
- 21Winkler M, Ringe B, Baumann J, Loss M, Wonigeit K, Pichlmayr R. Plasma vs whole blood for therapeutic drug monitoring of patients receiving FK 506 for immunosuppression. Clin Chem. 1994; 40(12): 2247-2253.
- 22Wiesner RH, Demetris AJ, Belle SH, et al. Acute hepatic allograft rejection: incidence, risk factors, and impact on outcome. Hepatology. 1998; 28(3): 638-645.
- 23Starzl TE, Murase N, Abu-Elmagd K, et al. Tolerogenic immunosuppression for organ transplantation. Lancet. 2003; 361(9368): 1502-1510.
- 24Bishop GA, Ierino FL, Sharland AF, et al. Approaching the promise of operational tolerance in clinical transplantation. Transplantation. 2011; 91(10): 1065-1074.
- 25Fishman JA, Issa NC. Infection in organ transplantation: risk factors and evolving patterns of infection. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2010; 24(2): 273-283.
- 26Cox KL, Lawrencemiyasaki LS, Garciakennedy R, et al. An increased incidence of Epstein-Barr-virus infection and lymphoproliferative disorder in young-children on FK506 after liver-transplantation. Transplantation. 1995; 59(4): 524-529.
- 27Reyes-Pérez H, Sánchez-Huerta JL, Varela-Fascinetto G, et al. Correlation between viral load of cytomegalovirus and tacrolimus and sirolimus levels in transplanted pediatric patients. Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex. 2016; 73(1): 4-9.
- 28Boudjema K, Camus C, Saliba F, et al. Reduced-dose tacrolimus with mycophenolate mofetil vs. Standard-dose tacrolimus in liver transplantation: a randomized study. Am J Transplant. 2011; 11(5): 965-976.