Dialysis Duration, Time Interaction, and Visceral Fat Accumulation: A 6-Year Posttransplantation Study

Kidney transplantation (KT) leads to body composition change, particularly increasing the fat mass. However, limited researches have focused on the long-term follow-up of these changes and factors influencing body composition after KT.

This study evaluated body composition in 31 adult KT recipients, measuring body mass index (BMI), the psoas muscle mass index (PMI) representing muscle mass, visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT) representing fat mass, and skeletal muscle radiodensity (SMR) representing muscle quality before KT and at 2, 4, and 6 years posttransplantation using computed tomography. Linear mixed models (LMM) analyzed temporal changes and contributing factors, while growth curve models assessed influence of these factors on body composition changes posttransplantation.

Following KT, BMI, and PMI remained stable, while SAT increased significantly, revealing a 1.30-fold increase from baseline 2 years after transplantation. Similarly, a substantial increase in VAT was observed, with a 1.47-fold increase from baseline 2 years after transplantation with a further 1.75-fold increase 6 years after transplantation. In contrast, SMR decreased with a 0.86-fold decrease from baseline after 2 years. VAT increase was significantly influenced by the interaction between posttransplantation and dialysis duration. Growth curve models confirmed this interaction effect persistently influenced VAT increase posttransplantation.

The study revealed that KT promoted significant alterations in body composition characterized by increase in the VAT and SAT and a decline in SMR. Notably, dialysis duration and its interaction with posttransplantation duration emerged as significant factors influencing VAT increase.