High-Grade Inflammation in Renal Failure Patients, According to Mean Platelet Volume, Improves at the End of Two Years After Transplantation

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide disorder which is characterized by the presence of systemic low-grade inflammation. There is also acquired immune deficiency in this patient group which is clinically present with increased incidence of severe infections, poor response to vaccination, and increased risk of virus-associated cancers. Renal transplantation is one of the renal replacement modalities that restore renal functions. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is emerging as a marker of inflammation in many clinical conditions. In this study we aimed to disclose the improvement of paired immune response of ESRF patients after renal transplantation even though they are under immunosuppressive therapy.

We retrospectively investigated C-reactive protein, MPV, platelets (PLT), and other hematologic parameters on the day of transplantation and at the end of the 1st and 2nd years after transplantation of 58 preemptive and 112 nonpreemptive renal transplant patients. We compared them with a healthy control group.

The MPV of the control group was 8.00 ± 0.73. The mean MPV of transplant patients before transplantation and at the end of the 1st and 2nd years after transplantation were 7.66 ± 1.01, 8.06 ± 0.97, and 8.20 ± 0.84, respectively. The initial MPV of the patient group was statistically significantly lower than the control group (P = .04). There was a statistically significant increase of MPV after transplantation. At the end of the 2nd year the difference of MPV between the patient and control groups was gone.

We detected that CKD patients had a decreased MPV compared with normal individuals and that it normalized at the end of the 2nd year after renal transplantation. We speculated that the decreased MPV in CKD patients is related to increased inflammation and uremic toxins owing to uremia which was improved after renal transplantation.