Evaluation of immunosuppressive regimens in ABO-incompatible living kidney transplantation--single center analysis.

Several protocols allow the successful ABO incompatible living-related kidney transplantation (ABO-ILKT), yet no single method has emerged as the best. We have made several substantial changes to our ABO-ILKT protocol over the past decade and a half and have attempted to determine whether the changes in immunosuppressive agents have resulted in a better outcome. We used methylprednisolone (MP), cyclosporine (CsA), azathioprine (AZ), antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) and deoxyspergualine (DSG) in the 105 cases of ABO-ILKT (group 1) between 1989 and 1999, and MP, tacrolimus (FK506), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the 117 cases of ABO-ILKT (group 2) between 2000 and 2004. We compared the patient and graft survival rates as well as the incidence rate of acute rejection in these two eras, when different regimens were used. There were significant differences in the 1- and 5-year graft survival rates between groups 1 and 2 (1-year: 78% in group 1 vs. 94% in group 2; 5-year: 73% in group 1 vs. 90% in group 2, p = 0.008). Also, a higher incidence rate of acute rejection was significantly observed in group 1 (50/105, 48%) than in group 2 (18/117, 15%) (p < 0.001). We conclude that the FK/MMF combination regimen provides excellent graft survival results in ABO-ILKT.