Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is an effective treatment for active lupus nephritis despite its variable efficacy in different ethnic groups. Here we tested whether pharmacokinetic monitoring may help to optimize dosing of MPA in an Asian population. Patients with biopsy-proven class III or IV lupus nephritis (ISN/RPS category) were treated with mycophenolate mofetil or enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium. One month after initiating treatment we measured plasma MPA levels in eight samples taken over a 12-h period after drug administration. The mean area under the time-dependent curve for MPA of responding patients was significantly higher than those not responding. Successful treatment was seen in patients with areas >45 mg h/l. The dosage of the drug was not related to MPA pharmacokinetics. In the mycophenolate mofetil group, however, MPA-area under the curve was positively, and significantly, correlated with trough or 1 h after dose concentrations and associated with a therapeutic response. Thus, our study shows that MPA pharmacokinetics were positively correlated with therapeutic responses of mycophenolate, suggesting that controlling the concentrations may improve its therapeutic efficacy in lupus nephritis. As the absorption and pharmacokinetic peak of enteric-coated tablets is slower, it is important to take different formulations into account when determining optimal MPA concentrations.

Background: Prior studies show that African-American and Hispanic dialysis patients have lower mortality risk than whites. Recent age-stratified analyses suggest this survival advantage may be limited to younger age groups, but did not concurrently compare Hispanic, African-American, and white patients, nor account for differences in nutritional and inflammatory status as potential confounders. Minorities experience inequities in kidney transplantation access, but it is unknown whether these racial/ethnic disparities differ across age groups. Methods: The associations between race/ethnicity with all-cause mortality and kidney transplantation were separately examined among 130,909 adult dialysis patients from a large national dialysis organization (entry period 2001-2006, follow-up through 2009) within 7 age categories using Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for case-mix and malnutrition and inflammatory surrogates. Results: African-Americans had similar mortality versus whites in younger age groups (18-40 years), but decreased mortality in older age groups (>40 years). In contrast, Hispanics had lower mortality versus whites across all ages. In sensitivity analyses using competing risk regression to account for differential kidney transplantation rates across racial/ethnic groups, the African-American survival advantage was limited to >60-years age categories. African-Americans and Hispanics were less likely to undergo kidney transplantation from all donor types versus whites across all ages, and these disparities were even more pronounced for living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Conclusions: Hispanic dialysis patients have greater survival versus whites across all ages; in African-Americans, this survival advantage is limited to patients >40 years of age. Minorities are less likely to undergo kidney transplantation, particularly LDKT, across all ages.

Objective Hypo- and hyperphosphatemia have each been associated with increased mortality in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. There has not been previous evaluation of a differential relationship between serum phosphorus level and death risk across varying age groups in MHD patients. Design and Settings In a 6-year cohort of 107,817 MHD patients treated in a large dialysis organization, we examined the association between serum phosphorus levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality within 5 age categories (15-<45, 45-<65, 65-<70, 70-<75 and ≥75 years old) using Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for case-mix covariates and malnutrition inflammation complex syndrome (MICS) surrogates. Main outcome measure all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results The overall mean age of the cohort was 60±16 years, among whom there were 45% women, 35% Blacks and 58% diabetics. The time averaged serum phosphorus level (mean ± SD) within each age category was 6.26±1.4, 5.65±1.2, 5.26±1.1, 5.11±1.0 and 4.88±1.0 mg/dl, respectively (P for trend <0.001). Hyperphosphatemia (>5.5 mg/dl) was consistently associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risks across all age categories including after adjustment for case-mix and MICS-related covariates. In fully adjusted models, a low serum phosphorus level (<3.5 mg/dl) was associated with increased all-cause mortality only in elderly MHD patients ≥65 years old (hazard ratio [HR] (95% confidence interval[CI]): 1.21(1.07-1.37), 1.13(1.02-1.25), and 1.28(1.2-1.37) for patients 65-<70, 70-<75, and ≥75 years old, respectively], but not in younger patients (<65 years old). A similar differential for cardiovascular mortality of serum phosphorus levels between old and young age groups was observed. Conclusions The association between hyperphosphatemia and mortality is similar across all age groups of MHD patients, whereas hypophosphatemia is associated with increased mortality only in elderly MHD patients. Preventing very low serum phosphorus levels in elderly dialysis patients may be associated with better outcomes, which needs to be examined in future studies.