Comparison of mizoribine with mycophenolate mofetil in triple immunosuppressive therapy in patients with renal transplantation

Abstract：Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of mizoribine (MZR) with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in triple immunosuppressive therapy for renal transplantation, namely MZR + cyclosporin A + prednisolone versus MMF + cyclosporin A + prednisolone. Methods: A total of 70 renal transplant recipients were enrolled and assigned alternately to the MZR and MMF groups. The daily dose of MZR was 200 mg (body weights>60 kg) or 150 mg (body weights <60 kg); the daily dose of MMF was 1 500 mg (body weights >60 kg) or 1 000 mg(body weights<60 kg). Triple immunosuppressive therapy was applied after transplantation. Evaluation indicators in-cluded patient and graft survival rates, incidence of rejection episodes and recovery from rejection, and incidence of infection and adverse events. Results: Seventy patients were observed for 1 year. The incidence of rejection epi-sodes at 1 year were 17.1% and 11.4%, respectively, in MZR and MMF group. There were no statistically differ-ences between the two groups. Incidence of pneumonia at 1 year were 8.6% and 48.6%, respectively, in MZR and MMF groups. The occurrence of pneumonia was significantly higher in MMF group than in MZR group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in incidence of serum uric acid increase. However, the mean uric acid levels at 24, 36 and 48-week were significantly higher in MZR group than in MMF group. The patients were significantly more tolerate to MZR than to MMF at 1 year. Conclusion: MZR is a safe and effective immuno-suppressive agent for renal transplantation in a triple drug therapy (including cyclosporin A and prednisolone), and its adverse reactions are relatively few.