NDT Advance Access originally published online on September 6, 2005
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2006 21(1):203-207; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfi119
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© The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Original Articles: Dialysis and Transplantation
Effect of renal transplantation on endothelial function in haemodialysis patients
1 Department of Nephrology, 2 Department of Radiology, 3 Department of Urology and 4 Department of Surgery, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Huseyin Kocak, MD, Department of Nephrology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Kampus 07070, Antalya, Turkey. Email: hkocak{at}akdeniz.edu.tr
Background. Haemodialysis patients (HD) have been characterized by a high incidence and prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Based on the traditional cardiovascular risk factors in this population, we cannot explain this high incidence and prevalence. One of the mechanisms contributing to cardiovascular risk in HD patients may be to uraemic toxins. Cardiovascular risk factors and uraemic toxins themselves may cause endothelial dysfunction, which may play a pivotal role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis in this population. We hypothesized that elimination of uraemic toxins in response to renal transplantation (RTx) can improve endothelial function as assessed by flow-mediated dilatation of brachial artery in haemodialysis (HD) patients.
Methods. Endothelial function measured by flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery (FMD) and glyceryltrinitrate-induced dilatation of the brachial artery (NMD) were assessed twice, during haemodialysis treatment and after RTx in 30 chronic haemodialysis patients. All patients were characterized by absence of known atherosclerotic disease and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. We also studied age- and gender-matched 20 normotensive healthy controls.
Results. FMD values significantly improved after RTx (6.69±3.1% vs 10.50±3.0%, P<0.001) in HD patients. FMD of patients both during haemodialysis and after RTx was lower than in healthy controls (6.69±3.1%, 10.50±3.0% vs 14.02±2.3%, P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively). There was no change in NMD values after RTx in HD patients (16.27±1.9% vs 16.30±1.8%, P>0.05). Also, NMD values in all patients were similar to healthy control values.
Conclusions. There is an improvement of endothelial function as assessed by FMD of the brachial artery after RTx in HD patients. This may be attributed to the elimination of uraemic toxins by successful RTx.
Keywords: endothelial dysfunction haemodialysis; renal transplantation
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