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Published ahead of print on November 23, 2005
J Am Soc Nephrol 17: 305-312, 2006
© 2006 American Society of Nephrology
doi: 10.1681/ASN.2005030249
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Clinical Transplantation

No Difference in Degree of Interstitial Sirius Red–Stained Area in Serial Biopsies from Area under Concentration-over-Time Curves–Guided Cyclosporine versus Tacrolimus-Treated Renal Transplant Recipients at One Year

Ajda T. Rowshani*,{dagger}, Eduard M. Scholten{ddagger}, Frederike Bemelman*, Michael Eikmans§, Mirza Idu||, Marian C.R. van Groningen§, Janto S. Surachno*, Marko J.K. Mallat{ddagger}, Leendert C. Paul{ddagger}, Johan W. de Fijter{ddagger}, Ingeborg M. Bajema§, Ineke ten Berge*,{dagger} and Sandrine Florquin

Department of Internal Medicine, * Divisions of Nephrology and {dagger} Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam; {ddagger} Department of Nephrology and § Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden; and Departments of || Vascular Surgery and Pathology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Address correspondence to: Dr. Ajda T. Rowshani, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 22700, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: +31-20-5663365; Fax: +31-20-6914904; E-mail: t.rowshani{at}amc.uva.nl

Received for publication March 6, 2005. Accepted for publication October 5, 2005.


   Abstract
Top
 Abstract
Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Interstitial fibrosis is the main characteristic of chronic allograft nephropathy and long-term graft failure. Cyclosporin (CsA) is thought to be more fibrogenic than tacrolimus. In a prospective, randomized, multicenter trial using a calcineurin-sparing regimen, renal interstitial volume was compared in CsA- and tacrolimus-treated renal transplant recipients by image analysis of Sirius red (SR)-stained cortical areas in protocol biopsies obtained at 6 mo (n = 94) and 12 mo (n = 97) after transplantation. Immunosuppression consisted of CsA or tacrolimus, CD25 mAb, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisolone. CsA therapy increased the 6-mo risk for subclinical rejection. The prevalence of subclinical rejection was 38.8% in the CsA-treated and 15.2% in the tacrolimus-treated patient group (P = 0.012). Strikingly, no difference in the degree of interstitial SR–stained area was detectable between the two treatment groups. In particular, previous subclinical rejection episodes did not influence the degree of interstitial volume. Also, no difference in GFR occurred at 1 yr, when the mean GFR mounted 63 ml/min. No significant differences in the degree of interstitial SR–stained area could be observed at 6 and 12 mo between CsA- and tacrolimus-treated renal transplant recipients. Although CsA-treated patients developed significantly more subclinical rejections at 6 mo, this did not influence the degree of SR staining or the change in renal function at 1 yr.


   Introduction
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is the leading cause of long-term graft failure. Its prevalence has been estimated at 50 to 94% at 1 yr (1,2). In concept, clinical CAN refers to kidney transplant disease with a slow decline rate in renal function that histologically can be characterized by interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, fibrointimal hyperplasia of the vessels, and glomerulosclerosis. Because multifactorial processes are involved in the pathogenesis of CAN, a clear histopathologic distinction between different causes, such as chronic rejection, toxic effects of calcineurin inhibitors, hypertensive vascular disease, and infection, is not always possible in one single case (3).

Recently, the histopathologic dynamics in the development of CAN were evaluated in retrospective studies of serial biopsies from kidney-pancreas transplant recipients using the Banff semiquantitative grading system (1,4,5). Two distinctive phases of injury were recognized. The early phase was characterized by tubulointerstitial damage that occurred during the first year and correlated with ischemia-reperfusion injury, immunologic factors such as severe acute rejection, and persistent subclinical rejection. The later phase consisted of chronic damage characterized by progressive arteriolar hyalinosis, ischemic glomerulosclerosis, and further interstitial fibrosis that was associated among others with long-term calcineurin-inhibitor nephrotoxicity. Regardless of the nature and dynamics of the underlying disease, the extent of fibrosis has been reported to correlate with deterioration of renal function both in CAN and in other primary renal diseases (6–8). Reduction in creatinine clearance is a late sign of injury as a result of compensatory mechanisms within the kidney. Accordingly, functional studies underestimate the extent of allograft disease as supported by longitudinal studies of protocol renal biopsies showing histologic features of CAN in well-functioning grafts (1,5,9,10). Therefore, early histologic detection of CAN has been suggested to be helpful in predicting the risk for subsequent loss of function and time to graft failure and to estimate the efficacy of therapeutic measures (11,12).

Semiquantitative grading systems such as Banff 97 have a wide interobserver variation that makes comparison across centers inaccurate (13–16). In contrast, computerized image analysis of fractional interstitial fibrosis of Sirius red (SR)-stained biopsies has been shown to be a valid and reproducible method to measure the degree of fibrosis (17,18). Under polarized light, SR dye is specific for collagen types I and III, which represent respectively 80 and 20% of total collagen synthesized by fibroblasts and thereby important components of renal matrix. Recently, quantification of renal interstitial volume assessed by SR nonpolarized technology has been validated: It correlated significantly with GFR as measured by iothalamate clearance in cases of established CAN (19).

On the one hand, the impact of calcineurin inhibitors on improvement of 1-yr cadaveric graft survival has been revolutionary. On the other hand, dosages that are needed to prevent immunologic graft failure are known to cause progressive nephrotoxicity and long-term failure (5). Although structurally not related, tacrolimus and cyclosporin (CsA) induce similar histologic lesions, including toxic tubulopathy, de novo arteriolar hyalinosis, striped cortical fibrosis, tubular microcalcification, and diffuse interstitial fibrosis (5,20,21). The area under the concentration-over-time curves (AUC) of both CsA and tacrolimus are reported to predict clinical parameters and nephrotoxicity better than trough levels (22–24). Up to now, data on relating AUC-guided dosing of calcineurin inhibitors and quantitative measurements of interstitial SR-stained area are lacking.

Conflicting results have been reported by randomized trials that have compared the effect of CsA and tacrolimus on allograft survival (25–28). Sparse data are available on differential effects of CsA and tacrolimus on the development of renal fibrosis as measured by histomorphometric methods (2,29–31). Moreover, these studies are difficult to compare because of different immunosuppressive regimens and different histomorphometric analysis methods as well as the use of trough levels aiming at different target values. In this study, using a calcineurin inhibitor–sparing regimen, we attempted to establish the differences in fibrogenicity between low-target AUC–guided dosing of the calcineurin inhibitors CsA and tacrolimus at 6 mo and 1 yr after transplantation.


   Materials and Methods
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Patients
This open-label, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in Amsterdam and Leiden, The Netherlands. The study was approved by the medical ethics committees of both centers. Each patient had given written informed consent. A total of 126 renal transplant recipients (>18 yr of age) of a first or second graft, except for highly immunized patients with panel reactive antibodies >50%, were randomly assigned prospectively between October 2000 and October 2002 to either a tacrolimus-based (n = 63) or a CsA-based (n = 63) immunosuppressive regimen. Renal function at 6 and 12 mo was measured according to the Nankivell formula (32). Baseline demographic and transplant-related characteristics, such as gender, age, the number of HLA mismatches, percentage of panel reactive antibodies, underlying disease, type of procedure, warm and cold ischemia time, and the occurrence of delayed graft function, were not significantly different between the two groups. In the CsA-treated group, more patients received a second transplant (previous transplant in CsA versus tacrolimus group 12.7 versus 1.6%; P = 0.03).

Renal Allograft Biopsies
Protocol biopsies were obtained at the time of transplantation and at 6 and 12 mo thereafter. At 6 and 12 mo, biopsies were obtained in 83 and 88%, respectively, of the evaluable patients in the CsA group and in 82 and 84%, respectively, of the evaluable patients in the tacrolimus group. Reasons for missing were primarily inadequate renal biopsy for proper Banff classification scoring, increased bleeding risk, and secondary refusal by patients to undergo a protocol biopsy. The prevalence of inadequate samples defined as fewer than seven glomeruli and/or no artery was 6%. The biopsies were evaluated by two independent nephropathologists, who were not aware of any clinical information. The Banff scheme, in which the severity of acute and chronic changes of the glomeruli, vessels, tubules, and interstitium of a renal allograft is assigned a value of 0 to 3, was applied (33). For gaining insight into the variability of scores between observers, each fifth biopsy was scored by every pathologist independently and the differences were discussed.

Interobserver Agreement
The interobserver agreement was good for the presence of acute features such as tubulitis, glomerulitis, interstitial infiltrate, and arteritis with a weighted {kappa} ranging from 0.6 to 0.8. However, the agreement between observers was poor for chronic features (weighted {kappa} range 0.12 to 0.49).

Definitions
Histologic CAN was defined as the presence of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy with or without fibro/intimal vascular thickening. CAN grade 0 referred to <6% affected cortical area, upgrading to grade I with 6 to 25% cortical fibrosis and grade II with 26 to 50% cortical fibrosis. In CAN grade III, >50% of interstitial cortical area was fibrotic. Clinical rejection was defined as an inflammatory process with varying degrees of tubulitis and endothelialitis, leading to a decline in renal function. Subclinical rejection is a clinically silent state of the occurrence of histopathologic signs of rejection without deterioration of renal function. Using the Banff scheme, subclinical rejection is classified as acute (Banff grade 1A or higher) or as borderline with tubulitis score of 1 and mononuclear cell infiltration score of 1, 2 or 3 or with tubulitis score of 2 or 3 with only mononuclear cell infiltration score of 0 or 1 without arteritis. Calcineurin inhibitor toxicity was defined as the presence of nodular arteriolar hyalinosis and/or striped fibrosis and tubular microcalcification.

Study Medication and AUC-Guided Dosing of Calcineurin Inhibitors
Patients were randomly assigned prospectively 1:1 and treated with either a standard CsA-based or a tacrolimus-based regimen. In the first week after implantation, CsA or tacrolimus was given twice daily at 12-h intervals, starting before surgery (starting dose 4 mg/kg twice daily for CsA and 0.1 mg/kg for tacrolimus). The initial target 12-h trough level (C = 0) in the first week was aimed at 225 ng/ml (range 200 to 250) and 12.5 ng/ml (range 10 to 15) for CsA and tacrolimus, respectively. CsA and tacrolimus AUC0-12h were estimated at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26, 39, and 52 using a population based two-compartment pharmacokinetic model combined with Bayesian fitting. Samples were obtained at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12 h after dose. Bayesian forecasting is a therapeutic drug monitoring tool that uses pharmacokinetic estimates such as mean population drug clearance and volume of distribution along with expected associated variability and information about the patient (e.g., body weight, renal function) to predict drug concentrations achieved with specific doses (34,35). This technique can inform the clinician of the next appropriate dose to maintain or reach the desired drug concentration. Adjustments were made to achieve the predefined target AUC: CsA AUC0-12h: 5400 ng/h per ml within the first 6 wk, which corresponds with a mean average trough level of 225 ng/ml; after 6 wk, 3250 ng/h per ml, which corresponds to a mean average trough level of 125 ng/ml; tacrolimus AUC0-12h: 210 ng/h per ml within the first 6 wk, which corresponds to a mean average trough level of 12.5 ng/ml; after 6 wk, 125 ng/h per ml, which corresponds with a mean average trough level of 7.5 ng/ml. Outpatient visits were monitored by short AUC using samples taken at 0, 2, and 3 h after dose. Analysis of pharmacokinetic parameters resulting from the AUC-guided dosing strategy for both drugs revealed that the actual measured AUC of CsA and tacrolimus were kept closely to the target AUC. CsA was given at an actual mean dose (mg/kg per d) of 7.62, 5.72, 3.06, 2.86, and 2.82 during the periods between 0 and 2, 2 and 6, 6 and 12, 12 and 26, and 26 and 52 wk after transplantation. Corresponding actual mean doses for tacrolimus were 0.168, 0.176, 0.110, 0.104, and 0.086. Concomitant immunosuppressive drug therapy consisted of prednisolone (100 mg/d 1 to 3, 50 mg/d 4, 20 mg/d 5 to 14, 15 mg/d 15 to 21, 10 mg after day 22 in both groups), mycophenolate mofetil (1000 mg twice daily and 500 mg twice daily in combination with either CsA or tacrolimus, respectively), and basiliximab prophylaxis (20 mg on days 0 and 4). Drugs that are known to alter concentrations of tacrolimus or CsA were prohibited. Biopsy-proven acute rejection was treated with methylprednisolone 1000 mg for 3 consecutive days. Anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG Merieux) was given for steroid-resistant rejection episodes and for second acute rejection episodes. Only in case of a rejection more than Banff grade II A was treatment conversion to the other calcineurin-based protocol done. Subclinical rejection was not treated.

Staining
Biopsies were processed for routine light microscopy. Tissue was embedded in paraffin; cut into 4-µm sections; and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, and SR. The slides were left in SR for 60 min. Two-micrometer sections were stained with silver methamine.

Image Analysis
Image analysis was performed by a technician who was blinded to the clinical source of the sample using nonpolarized light. The slides were examined with a Zeiss microscope equipped with full-color 3CCD camera. A background image of a blank area of the slide was initially obtained, and background correction was performed in real time to adjust for subtle irregularities in the illumination of the microscope field. The images were acquired using the x40 objective. Ten images of the cortex were obtained in a serpentine manner. Vessels that were larger than the size of adjacent tubules, the subcapsular cortex with a width of 0.5 mm, and the medulla were excluded. Image analysis was performed using the Image Pro Plus software package (Media Cybernetics, Gleichen, Germany). After the software was set to differentiate the positively stained from negatively stained areas on the first image, the software sequentially opened each image, did the analysis, stored the data, closed the image, and moved onto the next image until the entire file was analyzed. The amount of cortical collagen (SR-positive area) then was measured and was finally expressed as the percentage of the total analyzed cortical surface.

Statistical Analyses
All analyses were performed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Results are given as mean ± SD for interval and ordinal variables. Frequencies of nominal (categorical) variables are given as numbers and percentages. For comparison between two categories of interval variables, independent samples t test was used. If statistical assumptions for parametric analysis of interval variables were not met and in case of ordinal data, then Mann-Whitney’s two-independent samples test was used and exact P values calculated. For measurement of association between ordinal or ranked data, Kendall’s {tau}-b correlation coefficient was calculated. Nominal variables were analyzed with cross-tables, and exact significance was calculated. In case of repeated measurements, repeated measures analysis with general linear models procedure was used. The incidence of acute rejection and diabetes was estimated using Kaplan-Meier’s product-limit method, and the resulting curves were compared with log-rank test. Regarding the measurement of interobserver agreement for ratings according to Banff classification, weighted {kappa} statistic was used and P values were calculated. P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. All analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software package (version 10.07; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Interobserver agreement calculations were made using PEPI Computer Programs for Epidemiologists (Version 4.0; Sagebrush Press, Salt Lake City, UT).


   Results
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
Discussion
 References
 
Patient Survival, Graft Survival, and Graft Function
At 1 yr, patient survival was 97% in the CsA group and 98% in the tacrolimus group; graft survival was 95 versus 91%, respectively. In the CsA group, one nephrectomy was performed because of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease in the graft; in the tacrolimus group, there were two primary nonfunctioning grafts, two early graft failures after surgical complications, and one failure after a hyperacute humoral rejection.

No differences were found in proteinuria and in renal function at 6 and 12 mo: Mean creatinine clearance ± SD at 1 yr was CsA 64 ± 16 ml/min versus tacrolimus 65 ± 17 ml/min (P = 0.67). Therefore, no differences in clinical CAN were observed. The change in function between 6 mo and 1 yr was not influenced by the choice of calcineurin inhibitor. The mean difference in change between treatment groups was 1.13 ± 1.74 ml/min (confidence interval –2.13 to 7.58).

Subclinical Rejection and Acute Rejection
CsA treatment was associated with higher grades of tubulitis at 6 mo as compared with tacrolimus (mean tubulitis score ± SD: CsA 0.6 ± 0.8 versus tacrolimus 0.4 ± 0.6; P = 0.06, Mann-Whitney test). Accordingly at 6 mo, CsA therapy was accompanied by significantly higher rates of subclinical rejection. The total prevalence of subclinical rejections was 38.8% in CsA versus 15.2% in tacrolimus (P = 0.012). The prevalence of subclinical borderline rejections was 27 versus 11%, and subclinical Banff 1A was 12 versus 4% in the CsA versus the tacrolimus group (Figure 1A). However, this difference did not hold at 1 yr (16% in CsA- versus 22% in tacrolimus-treated patients). In the total cohort, the prevalence of subclinical rejection was 27 and 19% at 6 and 12 mo, respectively. The change in renal function between 6 mo and 1 yr ({Delta}GFR) was not influenced by the occurrence of subclinical rejection at 6 mo (mean {Delta}GFR ± SD: No subclinical rejection; –1.89 ± 8.89 ml/min, subclinical rejection present; –0.24 ± 8.35 ml/min, P = 0.28, patients with a previous clinical rejection episode excluded, Mann-Whitney test).



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  		Figure 1. Prevalence of subclinical rejection in sequential biopsies at 6 mo after transplantation, and incidence of histologically defined acute clinical rejection in both treatment groups are shown in A and B, respectively. The dashed line in B represents incidence of acute clinical rejections in the cyclosporine (CsA) group; the solid line represents its equivalent in tacrolimus-treated patients. (C) Prevalence of different grades of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) according to the Banff classification at 1 yr in both groups.

 
The cumulative incidence of biopsy-proven acute rejections was higher in the CsA as compared with the tacrolimus group (16.2 versus 6.6% at 6 mo; P = 0.12; Figure 1B). The incidence of vascular rejections and the incidence of steroid-resistance rejections that required anti-thymocyte globulin therapy were not different between the two treatment arms. The latter occurred in 6% of the patients in the CsA-treated group and 2% of the tacrolimus-treated patients. This is compatible with approximately 37% of CsA-treated patients who experienced an acute rejection versus 30% of patients who were treated with tacrolimus and experienced an acute rejection (NS). In the tacrolimus group, one additional late acute rejection episode (at 330 d posttransplantation) as a result of patient noncompliance with undetectable tacrolimus levels at the time of rejection occurred. Patients who experienced acute rejection had a lower creatinine clearance at 6 mo (n = 13; 55.2 ± 22.1 ml/min) than patients without acute rejection (n = 106; 65.2 ± 16.4 ml/min; P = 0048). Renal function at 1 yr and also the change in renal function from 6 mo to 12 mo after transplantation was not influenced by the occurrence of acute rejection in our cohort.

Banff Assessment
Histopathologic characteristics of allografts at implantation and 6 and 12 mo after transplantation are given in Table 1. Except for the trend toward higher tubulitis scores at 6 mo in the CsA group, no other differences were found between both treatment groups at different time points. Therefore, no differences in histologic CAN could be detected (CAN prevalence: 6 mo CsA 51 versus tacrolimus 57%; one year CsA 61 versus tacrolimus 65%; Figure 1C). The Banff degree of fibrosis, tubular atrophy, and CAN showed a persistent negative correlation with allograft function at both 6 and 12 mo (data not shown).


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  		Table 1. Characteristics of the allograft at the time of transplantation and at 6 or 12 mo after transplantationa

 
Calcineurin Inhibitor Nephrotoxicity
Calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity (CNI) was found to be present in 15% of the biopsies at 6 mo and in 24% of the biopsies at 1 yr with equal distribution between both groups (Table 1). Arteriolar hyalinosis was not influenced by the type of calcineurin inhibitor, previous hypertension, dyslipidemia, or diabetes (data not shown).

Quantitative SR Measurements
The effect of AUC-guided dosing of CsA or tacrolimus on allograft structure was the primary outcome variable. Quantitative assessment of cortical interstitial volume revealed no differences between the CsA and tacrolimus group at 6 mo (mean percentage of SR-positive area ± SD, CsA [n = 50] versus tacrolimus [n = 44], 12 ± 5.4 versus 12.3 ± 4.3%; P = 0.78). At 1 yr, similar results were obtained (mean percentage of SR-positive area ± SD, CsA [n = 48] versus tacrolimus [n = 47], 13.7 ± 5.6% versus 13.3 ± 5.9%; P = 0.73; Figure 2A). Increased interstitial SR-stained area corresponded to a higher degree (II and III) of CAN in this cohort (data not shown).



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  		Figure 2. (A) No difference in the degree of interstitial Sirius red (SR)-stained area in CsA- and tacrolimus-treated patients at 1 yr. (B) The degree of interstitial SR-stained area (y axis) is not influenced by a previous subclinical rejection (x axis) in protocol biopsies. Mean ± SD are shown.

 
The degree of interstitial SR-stained area at 1 yr was not influenced by a previous acute rejection episode (P = 0.28). Also, the occurrence of subclinical acute and borderline rejection episodes did not lead to significantly higher percentages of SR-positive area at 1 yr (Figure 2B). No correlations were detectable between donor-related variables (donor age, cold ischemia time, donor type, and number of HLA mismatches), delayed graft function, and the degree of fibrosis at 1 yr. We found a significant correlation between systolic BP and the Banff degree of fibrosis at both 6 and 12 mo after transplantation (systolic BP at 6 mo and fibrosis at 6 mo: P = 0026; systolic BP at 6 mo and fibrosis at 12 mo: P = 0006; systolic BP at 12 mo and fibrosis at 12 mo: P = 0031). No correlation was found between diastolic BP and fibrosis at any time point. Renal function at 6 and 12 mo was significantly correlated to the degree of interstitial volume as measured by SR (P = 0.03 and P = 0.05, respectively).


   Discussion
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
References
 
In this prospective, randomized, multicenter trial using a calcineurin-sparing regimen with tightly controlled systemic exposure, no significant differences in the degree of interstitial SR-stained area were detected at 6 mo and 1 yr after transplantation between AUC-guided dosing CsA and tacrolimus. Patient and graft survival rates were similar between groups, exceeding 96 and 90%, respectively. The available 2-yr analysis at this moment is still congruent with the 1-yr results, showing no difference in renal function between CsA- and tacrolimus-treated recipients. The creatinine clearance at 2 yr measures 61.1 ± 16 ml/min (mean ± SD, n = 57) in the CsA versus 62.9 ± 16.3 ml/min (n = 51) in the tacrolimus group. However, at 6 mo, CsA-treated patients had developed a significantly higher prevalence of subclinical rejections and a higher number of acute clinical rejections than tacrolimus patients without significant consequences for changes in renal function at 1 yr.

Although conflicting data have been reported by randomized trials that have compared the effects of microemulsion CsA and tacrolimus on allograft survival, most studies fail to show any difference in patient and graft survival (25–28). Recently, the concept of CNI as a late sign of histopathologic injury has been challenged by the findings of Nankivell et al. (5), who described two phases of CNI-related injury by studying the longitudinal development of structural CNI toxicity using Banff criteria in 99 recipients of combined kidney-pancreas transplants with CsA as the primary calcineurin inhibitor and a median follow-up time of 7 yr. Although their findings underscored the persistent and progressing development of CNI nephrotoxicity in time, they described an early phase of acute structural CsA nephrotoxicity within the first year after transplantation, with a 1-yr point prevalence of 12.6%. Chronic CsA nephrotoxicity occurred with a point prevalence of 67.3% by 5 yr and 100% by 10 yr after transplantation. However, sparse data are available on differential effects of CsA and tacrolimus on the development of allograft fibrosis as measured by histomorphometric methods, showing a stronger fibrogenic effect of CsA as compared with tacrolimus (2,29–31). The first prospective, randomized, comparative study between CsA and tacrolimus using quantitative computerized image analysis of fractional interstitial fibrosis of SR-stained biopsies at 1 yr was reported by Murphy et al. (29). Treatment with high-dose CsA (15 mg/kg per d) aimed at mean trough levels of 200 to 300 ng/ml during the first 3 mo as compared with tacrolimus (0.1 mg/kg per d) aimed at trough levels of 8 to 15 ng/ml was associated with significantly higher degrees of fibrosis in CsA-treated patients, whereas no differences in renal function, acute rejection rate, and de novo occurrence of diabetes were observed. During the first 2 wk, CsA trough levels were as high as 400 to 500 ng/ml. Recently, in a large, retrospective study of serial biopsies, Nankivell et al. (5) reported that early-onset acute and chronic structural CsA nephrotoxicity with respectively a point prevalence of 13 and 50% at 1 yr could be predicted by a trough level >200 ng/ml at 3 mo and by trough levels that exceed the median of 180 ng/ml after 1 yr. In general, a CsA threshold dose of 5 mg/kg per d during the first year, which is considered as instrumental for prevention of immunologic graft failure, was inferred from their analysis as contributing to progressive arteriolar injury. CsA AUC but not trough levels predict clinical parameters such as acute rejection and acute nephrotoxicity more accurately (22–24). In our study, analysis of pharmacokinetic parameters resulting from the AUC-guided dosing strategy for both drugs revealed that the actual measured AUC of CsA and tacrolimus were kept closely to the predefined low target AUC, which may explain that no difference in the degree of interstitial SR-stained area was detected.

CNI was found to be present in 15% of biopsies at 6 mo and in 24% of biopsies at 1 yr with equal distribution between two treatment groups. This incidence is lower than reported by Nankivell et al. (5), who retrospectively analyzed longitudinally obtained biopsies from pancreas-kidney transplant recipients, in whom calcineurin nephrotoxicity was shown to be as high as approximately 53% at 1 yr. Thus, AUC-guided dosing of calcineurin inhibitors may indeed result in less nephrotoxicity with maintenance of efficacy.

In our study, CsA therapy was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of subclinical rejection during the first 6 mo and also with a higher number of acute rejections as compared with the tacrolimus group. This is in agreement with previously reported data (1,36). However, both acute and subclinical rejection did not influence the degree of interstitial SR-stained area, and the change in renal function was similar in both groups. This may be explained by a low cumulative incidence of acute rejections (11.5%) without a significant difference in steroid-resistant rejection rate between the treatment groups, which is congruent with data referring to only severe acute rejections, as defined by the need for antilymphocyte therapy, leading to an increase in Banff scores for CAN (1). Subclinical rejections have been regarded increasingly as a risk factor for the development of CAN (1,37–39). Nankivell et al. showed moderate CAN in 25.6% of biopsy specimens with previous evidence of subclinical rejection as compared with 7.5% of those without previous subclinical rejection (P < 0.05). Shishido et al. (40) evaluated protocol biopsies of patients with established CAN. Subclinical rejection was evident in 50, 32, 19, and 16% of cases with CAN at 1, 2, 3, and 5 yr, respectively. However, the long-term effect of subclinical rejection(s) on renal allograft function and survival, as well as their impact on induction of quantitatively measurable renal fibrosis has yet to be determined in a prospective design. Future studies are needed to clarify the pathogenesis. Hyperexpression of the specific granzyme B inhibitor proteinase 9 by tubular cells has been described as a potential mechanism for clinical silence of these infiltrates in subclinical rejection (41).

Because the superiority of new agents such as rapamycin has not been validated completely, optimizing calcineurin inhibitor therapy as the backbone of immunosuppression in solid organ transplantation is warranted. Calcineurin inhibitors act like a double-edged sword with proven immunologic control leading to revolutionary improvement in short-term graft survival on the one side and induction of chronic nephrotoxicity and persistent structural damage on the other side. We conclude that this dilemma can be approached appropriately by a tightly controlled systemic exposure of these drugs based on AUC-guided dosing, in combination with quadruple prophylactic immunosuppression.


   Acknowledgments
 
We thank Prof. Dr. R.T. Krediet for critically reviewing this manuscript. We are very grateful to A. van der Wal and I. Hoedemaeker for excellent technical work.


   Footnotes
 
Published online ahead of print. Publication date available at www.jasn.org.

A.T.R. and E.M.S. contributed equally to this work.


   References
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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