Background: The relationships between lipid levels and atherosclerotic lesions of carotid arteries in kidney graft recipients are still unclear.
Methods: We evaluated carotid morphology in 53 recipients of functioning renal transplantation, and studied the relationship of carotid artery wall lesions with relevant clinical and laboratory risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The patients were on stable, cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive therapy.
Results: The main clinical characteristics of patients were: age, 46.5 +/- 10.1 years; males/females, 40/13; body mass index, 25.8 +/- 4.4 kg/m2; duration of transplantation, 43 +/- 52 months. Ultrasonographic scanning of carotid arteries showed the presence of lesions (intimal-media thickness and/or plaque) in 28 patients (52.8%). These recipients differed from patients without carotid lesions in terms of age (50.4 +/- 9.0 vs 42.2 +/- 9.7 years, p < 0.01) and duration of pre-transplant dialysis (4.6 +/- 3.4 vs 2.3 +/- 1.9 years, p < 0.01), whereas no statistically significant difference was observed as for total cholesterol (230 +/- 44 vs 235 +/- 35 mg/dl), LDL-cholesterol (142 +/- 32 vs 143 +/- 30 mg/dl), HDL-cholesterol (52 +/- 12 vs 58 +/- 20 mg/dl) and triglycerides (178 +/- 94 vs 167 +/- 89 mg/dl). The percentage of post-transplant diabetes was 3-fold higher in patients with carotid lesions (25 vs 8%). No difference was observed as for the following parameters: body mass index, duration of transplantation, fibrinogen levels, DDimer concentrations, reactive C-protein values, prevalence of hypertension, percentage of smokers vs non-smokers.
Conclusions: The present study supports the view that carotid artery lesions in kidney graft recipients on stable, cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive therapy may not be related to circulating lipid values.