Is the Pretransplant C 2 an Optimum Predictor of Posttransplant dose for Tacrolimus in Renal Transplantation Patients?

Aim: The study evaluated whether a single dose pretransplant 2-h tacrolimus concentration (C2) could predict the post-transplantation trough concentration (C0). Materials & methods: C2 concentration of tacrolimus was measured after single-dose administration (0.1 mg/kg) in 20 patients, 4–7 days prior to renal transplantation. Tacrolimus C0 monitoring was done on post-transplant day 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30. Results: The mean C2 was 21.79 ± 16.83 ng/ml (4.25–69.46) and the mean C0 obtained 48 h after transplant was 10.2 ± 6.27 (1.63–22.07) ng/ml. The Spearman correlation between C2 and C0 was 0.71 (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Pretransplant C2 could explain only 50% of the total variation in the post-transplant dose requirement hence it may not be sole predictor of the post-transplant dose.