Post-Transplant Cholesterol and Triglyceride Behavior: Effects of Sex, Age of the Recipient, and Type of Donor

Abstract

Background: Dyslipidemia represents a trigger for cardiovascular complications, being in minimized renal transplantation (RT) or most of the occasions associated as something secondary to immunosuppression. The objective is to determine the pattern of cholesterol and triglyceride behavior in the first 12 months of post-transplant evolution and its relationship with age, sex of the recipient, and type of renal donor.

Materials and methods: An observational, longitudinal study of RT carried out from 2013 to 2017 at the National Medical Center La Raza. In total, 328 records of patients with RT were analyzed. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels were studied over 12 months after renal transplantation; the association with sex, age of the renal recipient, and type of donor (live or deceased) was determined. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were made; the difference of means was established with a χ² or Student t test. For risk, a bivariate analysis was performed with a significant value of P < .05. SPSS version 25 (IBM, Armonk, NY, United States) was used.

Results: The mean pretransplant cholesterol was within normal values (176.32, standard deviation [SD] 40.15 mg/dL), but triglycerides were not (158.36, SD 36.60 mg/dL). The pattern in both cases increased the values the first month after transplant to reach similar pretransplant levels in month 12. Cholesterol showed differences for month 12 in the group over 50 years (P = .022); like triglycerides in the 9th and 12th months (P = .026 and .003, respectively), values were higher in those over 50 years.

Discussion and conclusions: The pattern of cholesterol and triglyceride behavior is similar, even without understanding the reasons for the immediate post-transplant increase in month 1. There is no influence on the sex of the renal recipient nor on the type of donor. Only the age in recipients older than 50 years has a ratio of higher triglyceride values in months 9 and 12 and in cholesterol in the 12 months post-transplant.