Relationship Between Cyclosporine Blood Level and CMV Infection During the First 3 Months after Kidney Transplantation

Organ transplantation is revolutionized since production of cyclosporine. Considering the increased incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in patients with transplantation, this study is designed to evaluate the relationship between cyclosporine blood level in patients undergone kidney's transplantation and the rate of CMV infection. This retrospective descriptive study evaluated 511 kidny's transplanted patients for cyclosporine blood level and rate of CMV infection during 100 postoperative days in Labbafinejad hospital (2001-2003). 57 (11%) out of 511 developed CMV infection. The minimum interval between surgery and infection was 20 days, the maximum interval was 99 days with a mean of 56 days. Mean blood cyclosporine levels in infected and non-infected patients were 383.3 and 310 ng/ml respectively. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). We conclude that CMV infection is closely related to cyclosporine blood level. In order to obtain more efficacy and less cytomegalovirus infections, careful cyclosporine blood level monitoring (<300 ng/ml) is recommended.