Effects of calcineurin inhibitors on sodium excretion in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Calcineurin inhibitors (CIs) such as cyclosporine A (CSA) and tacrolimus often cause renal dysfunction, resulting in increased serum creatinine, hyperkalemia, and hyperuricemia. However, the effects of CIs on sodium excretion have not been fully elucidated. We retrospectively evaluated the effects of CI administration on sodium excretion in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Fifty consecutive recipients each of allogeneic HSCT receiving either CSA or tacrolimus (100 patients in total) with available data for weekly fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) for a 4-week period after transplantation were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. No significant differences in patient characteristics were observed between CSA and tacrolimus groups except for the type of donor. FENa was significantly higher at the 3rd (1.25 ± 0.80) and 4th weeks (1.53 ± 1.06) after transplantation as compared with that at the 1st week (0.93 ± 0.51; P