Hyperuricemia at 1 Year After Renal Transplantation, Its Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Graft Survival

The present study investigated the prevalence and predictors for the development of hyperuricemia within 1 year after transplantation and their associations with genetic polymorphisms and graft outcome in patients taking tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil. One hundred twenty-one renal allograft recipients transplanted between January 2001 and March 2009 were studied. Patients with serum uric acid concentrations above 7.0 mg/dL within 1 year after transplantation were defined as having hyperuricemia, and all were treated with allopurinol. Genetic polymorphisms of nitric oxide synthase, angiotensin-converting enzyme, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and 3 uric acid transporters were examined. At 1 year after transplantation, 46 (38%) recipients developed hyperuricemia. Male gender, higher body mass index, long-term pretransplantation dialysis, and hypertension were associated with the development of hyperuricemia. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 1 year after transplantation was lower in the patients with hyperuricemia than in those without. There were no differences in graft survival between the two groups. The pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid and 6 polymorphisms were not associated with hyperuricemia. In the multivariate analysis, male gender, long-term pretransplantation dialysis (>36 months), and eGFR (