Hypercholesterolemia in renal transplant recipients : contributing factors, effect of dietary modification and fluvastatin therapy

Hypercholesterolemia which frequently follows renal transplantation, places kidney graft recipients at an increased risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. We attempt in this study to determine the prevalence, and evaluate severity and treatment of hypercholesterolemia in kidney transplant recipients. We studied 78 renal transplant patients with a mean age of 42.1 years and mean transplant duration of 6.2 years (range from six months to 8.5 years). They were on triple immunosuppressive therapy and had serum creatinine level of less than 160µmol/L. Thirty-one patients (39.8%) were found to have blood cholesterol levels > 6.4 mmol/L. Significant positive correlation was found between hypercholesterolemia and cyclosporine blood levels above 200 ng/ml (p