Observational study of metabolic syndrome among renal transplant recipients in Kasr Al-Aini School of Medicine: a single-center study

Introduction
The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a constellation of clinical abnormalities related to insulin resistance and inflammation. The syndrome is now recognized as a risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the general population. Recent studies suggest that MS is common after kidney transplantation, also possibly being predictive of allograft loss and poor allograft function.
Objectives
We studied the prevalence of MS in Egyptian kidney transplant recipients (from Kasr Al-Aini School of Medicine) and its correlation with C-reactive protein (CRP), serum uric acid (UA), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), different immunosuppressive intakes, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in these patients.
Patients and methods
The present cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 on 100 renal transplant recipients, 68 male (68%) and 32 female (32%), with stable kidney function (serum creatinine=1.5±1 mg/dl) in King Fahd Unit, Cairo University. All clinical and laboratory data were recorded, including serum creatinine, UA, cholesterol, triglyceride (TGL), low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), ALP, CRP, and HCV Abs. The presence of MS was determined using NCEP-ATP III criteria, with BMI used in place of waist circumference.
Results
Patients were divided into two groups – MS (group 1): 26 patients, 12 female (46.2%) and 14 male (53.8%), with a mean age of 34.46±9.69 years; and non-MS (group 2): 74 patients, 20 female (27%) and 54 male (73%), with a mean age of 27±8.33 years. There was a highly significant correlation (≤0.001) between CRP and MS, BMI and diabetes mellitus, whereas the correlation between CRP and hypertension, ALP, HCV Abs, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), TGLs level, and HDL was insignificant.
Conclusion
Metabolic syndrome is prevalent in post-renal transplant patients. Serum CRP concentration correlates positively with metabolic syndrome in kidney transplantation patients. The age, weight, BMI, systolic and diastolic BP, serum triglycerides, ALT of MS group were significantly higher than in non-MS group. The duration of hypertension in the MS cases was significantly longer than in non-MS cases.