Comparison of FK 506, mycophenolate mofetil, and aminoguanidine effects on delay of corneal allograft rejection in an...

The purpose of our study was to compare the effectiveness of immunosuppressive drugs on the prevention of allograft rejection in a murine model of low-risk and high-risk keratoplasty. The therapy included FK 506 (tacrolimus; 0.2 mg/kg), mycophenolate mofetil (30 mg/kg), aminoguanidine (0.1 g/kg), and combination of FK506 + mycophenolate mofetil or FK506 + aminoguanidine. The results obtained from the Gray's survival model stratified according to the type of subjects suggest that a major rejection risk reduction was achieved using FK506; good results also were obtained for mycophenolate mofetil. Although the point estimates of both the survival and relative risk of rejection suggest a deferred effect of the combination FK506 + mycophenolate mofetil, this finding did not prove statistically significant.