Comparison of serum monocide chemoattractant protein levels with immunosuppressive therapy protocols in patients with renal transplantation

BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation stands out with lower cost advantages in life expectancy, quality of life and especially in the long-term perspective compared to dialysis. Having significant side effects of immunosuppressive drugs in terms of patient and graft survival limits the use of these drugs. A variety of markers are being explored to prolong the renal graft life. One of these molecules, monocide chemoattractant protein (MCP-1) is a marker involved in renal inflammation. The production of MCP-1 was blocked in kidney diseases and the disease was improved. Along with these promising developments, we decided to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between immunosuppressive therapies used in renal transplantation therapy and serum MCP-1 levels. METHODS: Our study was performed in 80 patients who underwent kidney transplantation followed in Haydarpaşa Numune Training and Research Hospital. These 80 patients were examined in 4 groups as Group 1 (cyclosporin), Group 2 (tacrolimus), Group 3 (sirolimus) and Group 4 (everolimus). Serum MCP-1 levels were compared between the groups by using ELISA method. RESULTS: In our study, serum MCP-1 levels were significantly higher in cyclosporine and tacrolimus groups than in sirolimus (p<0.05). When calcineurin inhibitors and everolimus were compared, it was not statistically significant, although calcineurin inhibitors were higher. CONCLUSION: Understanding the role of MCP-1 in monocyte homeostasis and the effects of MCP-1 inhibition in kidney disease will help to design better diagnostic and treatment strategies in patients with inflammatory kidney disease (Tab. 2, Fig. 7, Ref. 45).