Organ Transplantation Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Organ Transplantation, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery.

Acute inflammatory syndrome induced by mycophenolate mofetil in a patient following kidney transplantation.

Hochegger K, Gruber J, Lhotta K

Clinical Division of Nephrology, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. kathrin.hochegger@uibk.ac.at

Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is increasingly used to prevent acute and chronic rejection following kidney transplantation and in autoimmune diseases. Here, we report on a patient after kidney transplantation, who developed an acute inflammatory syndrome characterized by fever and oligoarthritis within 1 week after increasing the MMF dosage. MMF was discontinued resulting in a complete resolution of the syndrome within 48 h. We demonstrated in vitro that the patient's phorbol myristate acetate (PMA-) and formyl Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP-) stimulated polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) developed increased oxidative burst when incubated with MMF. This report demonstrates that MMF can also induce acute inflammatory syndrome in patients following kidney transplantation and that this syndrome might be due to a paradox, pro-inflammatory reaction of PMNs.

Published 16 March 2006 in Am J Transplant, 6(4): 852-4.
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