EFFECT OF PREDNISONE DOSE SPACING ON PLASMA-LIPIDS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 95  (6) , 801-807
Abstract
A low prevalence of hyperlipidemia in renal transplant recipients who were treated with alternate-day corticosteroid was reported. To determine whether alternate-day prednisone is associated with lower plasma lipids than is daily prednisone, 14 renal transplant recipients with good allograft function (serum creatinine < 2.5 mg/dl) who were normolipidemic on alternate-day prednisone were studied. All patients were treated with 6 mo. of daily prednisone (10.9 .+-. 0.4 mg, mean .+-. SE) and then returned to 6 mo. of alternate-day prednisone (21.6 .+-. 1.0 mg). Mean plasma triglyceride, cholesterol and cholesterol fractions on either regimen were normal and not different. There were no differences in fasting or 2 h postprandial glucose and insulin levels. Patients (12) gained weight on daily prednisone, and 11 patients lost weight on reversion to alternate-day prednisone. The changes in ideal body weight in both periods correlated (P < 0.05) with changes in plasma triglycerides. A daily prednisone regimen as compared to an alternate-day regimen apparently does not dispose normolipidemic patients to hyperlipidemia. The factors contributing to the low prevalence of hyperlipidemia in the renal transplant recipients are obscure.