Effect of simvastatin on expression of RANTES and its receptor CCR5 mRNA in renal transplant recipients with hyperlipidemia

    SHI Yanª²Ling, ZOU Heª²Qun, WANG Yuª²Xin, XU Qinª²Jun, TANG Xiaoª²Da

    1Department of Nephrology, Fifth Hospital, Sun Yatª²sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China, 2Department of Nephrology, Shanghai First People¬ðs Hospital, Shanghai 200080, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To study whether hyperlipidemia after renal transplantation is related to the expression of RANTES (regulated on activation normal Tª²cell expressed and secreted) and its receptor CCR5 (chemokine receptor 5) mRNA in peripheral monocyte cells (PMCs) and to explore its therapy. METHODS: Renal recipients were divided into normal lipidemia group (n=30) and hyperlipidemia group (n=30) according to the serum lipid level 6-8 months after transplantation. The patients in the hyperlipidemia group were treated with simvastatin for 1.5 months (1.5ª²month treatment group) or 3 months (3ª²month treatment group). The control group consisted of 30 healthy subjects. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), lowª²density lipoprotein (LDL), highª²density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured and RTª²PCR was used to detect the expression of RANTES and CCR5 mRNA in PMCs. RESULTS: The renal function of all the patients was normal. TC, TG, LDL and expression of RANTES and CCR5 mRNA in the normal lipidemia group were lower than those in the hyperlipidemia group, but higher than those in control group (P<0.05), and those in 3ª²month treatment group were significantly lower than those in 1.5ª²month treatment group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of RANTES and CCR5 mRNA is involved in the earlyª²stage chronic injury of kidney allografts. Hyperlipidemia can strengthen the increased expression of RANTES and CCR5 mRNA. Simvastatin can reduce the expression of RANTES and CCR5 mRNA in the kidney transplant recipients with hyperlipidemia. ......