OBJECTIVES Hyperkalemia is an electrolyte disorder that may occur during the first few months after a renal transplant, in patients undergoing cyclosporine immunosuppression. We present our experience with cyclosporine-associated hyperkalemia in living-donor renal transplant recipients, with isolated clinically relevant hyperkalemia soon after surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS We report 4 living...

Cyclosporine, a calcineurin inhibitor, is a potent immunosuppressive agent that acts chiefly through the inactivation of T-lymphocytes. Several clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cyclosporine for treating fibrotic lung disease, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. We hypothesized that cyclosporine exerts direct effects against fibrogenesis of lung myofibroblasts, a...

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study is to review our experience with tacrolimus as a rescue immunosuppressant for heart transplant recipients with refractory rejection or cyclosporine intolerance. Methods: From June 1995 to November 1998, 15 cardiac transplant recipients were converted from our standard cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive regimen to a tacrolimus-based treatment....

Cyclosporine is a potent immunomodulator and has a beneficial effect in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). We analyzed the mechanism of the effects of cyclosporine on the regulation of epithelial apoptosis via TGF-beta-related signaling, because the balance between the apoptosis and regeneration of epithelial cells seems to be a key factor to maintain the intestinal homeostasis. For this...

Prompted by evidence that Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a nonmalignant disorder of immune regulation, we used cyclosporine (12 mg/kg/d orally) to treat three young children with advanced multisystem LCH. All three patients had partial responses to cyclosporine within 2 months of therapy, as evidenced by complete resolution of organ dysfunction and regression of the majority of lesions....

BACKGROUND Permeability glycoprotein (P-glycoprotein or P-gp) plays an important role in the intestinal absorption of the immunosuppressive agents: cyclosporine and tacrolimus. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine how the intestinal absorption of cyclosporine and tacrolimus is affected when they are used with P-gp activating or inhibiting agents. MATERIAL AND METHODS In in vitr...

The catabolism of various calcium channel blockers through cytochrome P-450 is heterogeneous and may be modified by concomitant use of cyclosporin A. In an open study we investigated the antihypertensive effect and clinical tolerance of the dihydropyridine amlodipine and its effects on cyclosporine kinetics in stable hypertensive renal transplant recipients not taking corticosteroids. Ten adult...

Acquired aplastic anemia, the prototypical bone marrow failure disease, is characterized by pancytopenia and marrow hypoplasia. Most aplastic anemia patients respond to immunosuppressive therapy, usually with anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine, but some relapse on cyclosporine withdrawal or require long-term administration of cyclosporine to maintain blood counts. In this study, we tested...

Failure of chemotherapy associated with expression of the multidrug resistance protein p170 frequently occurs in retinoblastoma (RB). Despite using cyclosporine, which inhibits p170 and improves our chemotherapy results, rare failures occur. In nonmetastatic primarily enucleated RBs, we show expression ofpl7O in 3 of 18 samples and expression of multidrug resistance protein (MRP), the second pr...

BACKGROUND We have recently shown that postischemic administration of intralipid protects the heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here we compared the cardioprotective effects of intralipid with cyclosporine-A, a potent inhibitor of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening. METHODS In vivo rat hearts or isolated Langendorff-perfused mouse hearts were subjected to ischemia...