Korean J Transplant.  2022 Nov;36(Supple 1):S199. 10.4285/ATW2022.F-3334.

The comparison of coefficient of variation among once-daily and twice-daily tacrolimus in kidney transplant patients: a meta-analysis

• Mahadita GW
• Widiana IGR
• Kandarini Y

• KMID: 2535715
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2022.F-3334

Abstract

Background
Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice end stage renal disease. Tacrolimus often used as prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients receiving organ transplants. Maintaining tacrolimus trough levels is important in preventing acute rejection, but twice-daily dosing often leads to nonadherence. One concern with once-daily tacrolimus is that the desired tacrolimus trough levels may not be achieved. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate tacrolimus trough levels of once-daily and twice-daily tacrolimus for maintenance immunosuppression.
Methods
We systematically searched PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journal, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect screening with the following search terms: ("kidney transplant" or "renal transplant") and ("extended-release tacrolimus" or "once-daily tacrolimus") and ("immediate-release tacrolimus" or "twice-daily tacrolimus") and ("trough level").
Results
Total 10 studies were included. We found there are no significant differences in tacrolimus trough levels between once-daily and twice-daily tacrolimus (mean difference [MD], 0.51 [–1.05, 0.03]; P=0.07). Coefficient of variation was calculated for each type of tacrolimus. We found there are no significant differences in CV of tacrolimus trough levels between once-daily and twice-daily tacrolimus (29.87 vs. 26.76) (MD, 3.10 [–3.35, 9.55]; P=0.35).
Conclusions
There are no differences in tacrolimus trough levels between once-daily and twice-daily tacrolimus.