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Original Article
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Volume 329:769-773 September 9, 1993 Number 11
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Effect of Dietary Fish Oil on Renal Function and Rejection in Cyclosporine-Treated Recipients of Renal Transplants
Jaap J. Homan van der Heide, Henk Bilo, J.M. Donker, Joep M. Wilmink, and Adam M. Tegzess

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ABSTRACT

Background Dietary fish oil exerts effects on renal hemodynamics and the immune response that may benefit renal-transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine. To evaluate this possibility, we studied the effect of fish oil on renal function, blood pressure, and the incidence of acute rejection episodes in cyclosporine-treated recipients of renal transplants.

Methods In a randomized, double-blind trial, 33 recipients of first cadaveric kidney transplants who were treated with cyclosporine and prednisolone ingested 6 g of fish oil daily during the first postoperative year (the fish-oil group), whereas another 33 renal-graft recipients treated with cyclosporine and prednisolone ingested 6 g of coconut oil daily for three months, after which time it was stopped (the control group).

Results One year after transplantation, the fish-oil group had higher median values than the controls for glomerular filtration rate (53 vs. 40 ml per minute per 1.73 m2, P = 0.038) and effective renal plasma flow (214 vs. 178 ml per minute per 1.73 m2, P = 0.023) and lower mean arterial pressure (103 vs. 118 mm Hg, P = 0.0011). The cyclosporine doses in the two groups were similar. The cumulative number of rejection episodes was 20 in the controls, as compared with 8 in the fish-oil group (P = 0.029). One-year graft survival also tended to be better in the fish-oil group (97 vs. 84 percent, P = 0.097).

Conclusions The daily administration of 6 g of fish oil during the first postoperative year has a beneficial effect on renal hemodynamics and blood pressure in renal-transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine. Although the fish-oil group had significantly fewer rejection episodes than the control group, graft survival at one year was not significantly better in the fish-oil group.


Source Information

From the Renal Transplant Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Groningen (J.J.H.H., A.M.T.); the Department of Internal Medicine, de Weezenlanden Hospital, Zwolle (H.J.G.B.); the Department of Internal Medicine, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam (J.M.D.); and the Renal Transplant Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (J.M.W.) -- all in the Netherlands. Presented in part at the 6th International Congress on Nutrition and Metabolism in Renal Disease, Harrogate, United Kingdom, August 26-30, 1991, and at the 24th annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, Baltimore, November 17-20, 1991.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Homan van der Heide at the Renal Transplant Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Groningen, Oostersingel 59, 9713 EZ Groningen, the Netherlands.

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