Effect of age and gender on kidney function in renal transplant donors: a prospective study

We evaluated the long-term residual renal function in 64 living related kidney donors. Our main objective was to identify baseline factors, including gender and age, that could predict renal impairment after nephrectomy. Forty-four (69%) of the 64 donors were women. The mean +/- SEM age of those studied was 36 +/- 1.3 years and their mean +/- SEM duration of follow-up was 62 +/- 4.9 months (range, 6 to 174). Overall mean serum creatinine concentration after kidney donation was increased compared to baseline values (1.13 mg/dl vs 0.92 mg/dl, respectively, p < 0.001). At the last follow-up visit, post-nephrectomy mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) values, adjusted for body surface area, age at donation, baseline serum creatinine and duration of follow-up, measured by 99mTc-DTPA were significantly lower in women than in men (72.11 ml/min vs 87.17 ml/min, respectively, p = 0.02). At follow-up, mean effective renal plasma flow, adjusted for the same variables, measured by 131I-hippuran was also significantly lower in women compared to men (318.07 ml/min vs 400.82 ml/min, respectively, p < 0.01). Eleven of twelve patients with post-nephrectomy GFR values less than 60 ml/min were women. Following nephrectomy, serum creatinine concentration increased significantly as a function of greater age at donation in women but not in men. Similarly, in women but not in men, follow-up GFR measurements decreased significantly as a function of age after adjusting for baseline serum creatinine and duration of follow-up.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)