Steroid therapies can be avoided after transplant

The use of modern immunosuppressive drugs can help in maintaining kidney function along with eliminating the need for steroid therapy as early as one week following a transplant surgery.

It was remarked by Steve Woodle, MD, chief of UC’s transplant surgery division, principal investigator and designer of the study that eliminating a daily dose of steroids after a transplant minimizes chronic health conditions that are common to kidney transplant recipients.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Steroids have long been the primary source of morbidity and complications following successful kidney transplantation,” Woodle says. “This study demonstrates that elimination of even small, daily prednisone (pred-ne-zone) doses does not compromise results while minimizing weight gain, diabetes and bone complications.”
Corticosteroids were the first anti-rejection drug used in transplant patients, dating back to the first transplant surgeries over 50 years ago.
Traditionally patients who have undergone organ transplantation have required life-long steroid treatments given in combination with other drugs that help suppress the body’s immune system and allow the transplanted organ to function properly.
However, the steroid treatment—given as the oral drug, prednisone—can cause serious side effects including cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol and blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes, bone weakness and cataracts.

The study also involved researchers from the University of Wisconsin; the University of Utah; the Methodist Hospital, Houston; and Weill Cornell Medical College and was funded by Astellas Pharma U.S., Inc.