TREATMENT OF HYPERLIPIDEMIA IN RENAL ALLOGRAFT RECIPIENTS WITH GEMFIBROZIL

Experience on medical treatment of hyperlipidemia, which is a frequent metabolic derangement in transplant recipients, is limited. After it has been announced that lovastatin causes rh.abdomyolisis, the safety has also become a subject of discussion. Twenty-five cases of whom graft ages were > 9 monhts, creatinin levels were < 2 mgldl and following a diet of 6 months duration triglyceride levels (TG) were 2200 mgldl and/or total cholesterol (TC) were enrolled in this prospective study. Among them, 14 hyperlipidemic patients were given gemfibrozil 2x600 mgldfor 3 months; control group consisted of the other 11 patients. At the end of 3 months, TG decreased from 218±49 mgldl to 136 ± 35 TC from 238±22 mgldl to 206±20, LDL-C 138±24 mgldl to 125±17; HDL-C increased from 48±10 mgldl to 55 ±10. There was no significant change in the control group. No side effect that required to cancel the treatment had been observed during the study. In conclusion, gemfibrozil is thought to be a safe and effective drug in the treatment of hyperlipidemia of renal allograft recipients.