Managing cardiovascular disease risk in South Asian kidney transplant recipients. 2021

G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
Kidney Transplant Program, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto M5C 2T2, ON, Canada. ramesh.prasad@unityhealth.to.

South Asians (SA) are at higher cardiovascular risk than other ethnic groups, and SA kidney transplant recipients (SA KTR) are no exception. SA KTR experience increased major adverse cardiovascular events both early and late post-transplantation. Cardiovascular risk management should therefore begin well before transplantation. SA candidates may require aggressive screening for pre-transplant cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to their ethnicity and comorbidities. Recording SA ethnicity during the pre-transplant evaluation may enable programs to better assess cardiovascular risk, thus allowing for earlier targeted peri- and post-transplant intervention to improve cardiovascular outcomes. Diabetes remains the most prominent post-transplant cardiovascular risk factor in SA KTR. Diabetes also clusters with other metabolic syndrome components including lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, higher triglycerides, hypertension, and central obesity in this population. Dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and obesity are all significant CVD risk factors in SA KTR, and contribute to increased insulin resistance. Novel biomarkers such as adiponectin, apolipoprotein B, and lipoprotein (a) may be especially important to study in SA KTR. Focused interventions to improve health behaviors involving diet and exercise may especially benefit SA KTR. However, there are few interventional clinical trials specific to the SA population, and none are specific to SA KTR. In all cases, understanding the nuances of managing SA KTR as a distinct post-transplant group, while still screening for and managing each CVD risk factor individually in all patients may help improve the long-term success of all kidney transplant programs catering to multi-ethnic populations.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
January 2004, Nefrologia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola Nefrologia,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
August 1994, Transplantation proceedings,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
January 2010, Giornale italiano di nefrologia : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di nefrologia,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
August 1991, Diabetologia,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
September 2015, Transplantation proceedings,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
June 2017, JAAPA : official journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
November 2017, Transplantation proceedings,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
May 2013, The Journal of infectious diseases,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
January 2018, Transplantation proceedings,
G V Ramesh Prasad, and Vaishnavi Bhamidi
January 2014, TheScientificWorldJournal,
Copied contents to your clipboard!