Pre-transplantation and post-transplantation serum bone alkaline phosphatase levels in renal transplant patients

Abstract

Bone Alkaline Phosphatase (BAP) reflects the biosynthetic activity of the osteoblasts. End-stage renal disease and renal transplantation have effects on bone metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum BAP levels in pre-transplantation (pre-tx) and post-transplantation (post-tx) samples obtained from patients who underwent a renal transplantation. Forty end-stage renal disease patients (16 male and 24 female) undergoing transplantation and 40 healthy individuals (20 female and 20 male) volunteered for this study. The serum samples were obtained before the onset of immunosuppressive treatment and two months after renal transplantation. Serum BAP levels were measured by Ostease Kit (Beckman Coulter, California, USA) at DXI 800 immunoassay autoanalyzer. There were significant differences between control group and pre-tx group (p=0.015) and between control group and post-x group (P<0.001). The serum BAP levels were lower in the post-tx group than that of the control group the control group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.023). These results suggest that osteoblast activity is suppressed during chronic renal failure and transplantation worsens osteoblastic inactivity, thus causing to enter a non-dynamic state the bone. BAP may be a useful parameter for assessing the metabolic status of bone before and after renal transplantation.