Immunosuppressants and new onset gallstone disease in patients having undergone renal transplantation.

Background: There are very few reports describing the development of gallstone disease after renal transplantation (GSDART) in Asia. The aim of this population-based study was to explore the prevalence, predictive factors, and outcomes of newly developed GSDART. The relationship between immunosuppressant and GSDART was also explored.

Patients And Methods: Renal transplantation (RT) recipients were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan during January 1998-December 2012. In total, 2,630 adult patients, who had neither been diagnosed with gallstone disease (GSD) nor undergone cholecystectomy, were included in this study. These patients underwent follow-up till the diagnosis of GSDART was established. Risk factors and post-RT immunosuppressant treatments were investigated and analyzed using Cox regression analysis. The cumulative mortality in patients with and without GSDART was also evaluated.

Results: The final dataset comprised 143 patients who developed GSDART and 2,487 patients who had not been diagnosed with GSDART during the follow-up period. The prevalence of GSDART was 5.4%. On performing univariate analysis, age (=0.0276) and certain immunosuppressant administrations were identified as significant risk factors for GSDART. After adjusting for age, multivariable analysis showed that everolimus (adjusted hazard ratio 0.287, =0.0013) was independently associated with the development of GSDART. The overall mortality rate (6.99%, =0.0341) was significantly decreased in the GSDART group.

Conclusion: Increased age was the most consistent risk factor for GSD, and everolimus-based immunotherapy indicated a decreased incidence of GSDART in RT recipients. The long-term mortality rate was significantly decreased in patients with GSDART.