Induction treatment with low-dose thymoglobulin or basiliximab in renal transplants from older donors

Transplantation of kidneys from older donors is followed by an increase in delayed graft function (DGF) and acute rejection episodes (ARE). In these circumstances, induction treatment, whether with antithymocyte globulin or with interleukin-2 receptor blockers, may delay the introduction of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) with effective prevention of ARE. We examined the efficacy and safety of induction treatment with 2 low doses of thymoglobulin compared with 2 doses of basiliximab. A group of 27 patients were treated with thymoglobulin and another 36 with basiliximab. CNI introduction was delayed until day 3 posttransplantation. The thymoglobulin group received 2 doses of 1.25 mg/kg on alternate days and the basiliximab group 2 doses of 20 mg. A trend to a lower incidence of DGF was observed in the thymoglobulin group (33% vs 55.6%; P = .08), with lower levels of serum creatinine on days 7 (P = .02) and 14 (P = .02) posttransplantation. No patient in the thymoglobulin group experienced ARE, but 11 patients (30.6%) in the basiliximab group did (P < .001), and 5 needed rescue treatment with thymoglobulin. We found no differences in the incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease (P = .945), admission due to infections (P = .274), or neoplasia (P = .340), or differences in graft (P = .69) and patient (P = .21) survivals at 1 and 3 years. Low-dose thymoglobulin was more effective at preventing DGF and ARE in renal transplant recipients of organs from older donors, with no differences in infectious complications or graft and patient survivals.