The pharmacogenetics of mycophenolate mofetil in Tunisian renal transplant patients.

The effects of variants in and genes on the efficacy and safety of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the Tunisian population were investigated. A total of 245 kidney transplant patients being treated with MMF were recruited and cotreated with cyclosporine or tacrolimus. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. MMF, cyclosporine and tacrolimus trough levels were measured by immunoassay. The AUC (AUCMPA) was estimated by a Bayesian method. In the tacrolimus-treated group, anemia and diarrhea were associated with the and alleles, respectively (p < 0.05). In the cyclosporine-treated group, leukopenia was associated with the SLCO1B1-521T allele (p < 0.05). Both groups had an increased risk of rejection (p < 0.05) associated with the variant alleles of , and and the common allele of . However, no significant association was found between the studied genotypes and AUCMPA or cotreatment levels. The results constitute preliminary evidence for the inclusion of the pharmacogenetics of MMF in kidney pretransplantation evaluations.