P79
THE IMPACT OF RENAL TRANSPLANTATION ON SKIN AUTO FLUORESCENCE
LEVELS
Catherine Johnson, Dr Janson Leung, Professor Maarten Taal
Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Problem: Advanced Glycation End-products (AGE) are a heterogenous group of compounds
that accumulate due to increased formation and impaired excretion Skin Auto Fluorescence
(SAF) measures AGE and SAF levels are a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality in CKD
and of death and graft loss in the transplant patient (Hartog, 2006). SAF values in kidney
transplant patients have been observed to be lower than in dialysis patients and similar to
patients with CKD stage 3. A reduction in SAF following transplantation was recently noted in
a small group of patients (Crowley 2013).
Purpose: Understanding what happens to SAF following transplantation may enhance our
understanding of cardiovascular risk and its management in this patient group.
Design: This was a retrospective observational study of medical records carried out over a
period of 6 months. Data was collected at two random time points before and after
transplantation. Patient records and electronic databases were retrospectively interrogated to
investigate traditional and transplant specific CV risk factors
Findings:
We observed lower mean SAF readings following transplantation: 2.87 +/- 0.68 AU compared
to 3.22 +/- 0.65 AU before transplant however this was not significant. In addition some key
trends emerged: smoking, haemoglobin, renal transplant vintage, post-transplant eGFR and
inflammation which reassuringly reflected factors that had been highlighted as significant in
previous studies.
Conclusion: The understanding of the mechanisms of AGE and their implications are an
emerging area of interest to the renal and transplant communities