BACKGROUND: Many renal transplant recipients develop complications such as obesity, posttransplantation diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. There have been few studies of metabolic syndrome (MS) in Asian renal transplant recipients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in 303 patients in 5 transplant centers in Bangkok, Thailand. The diagnosis of MS was based on the criteria of the modified NCEP-ATPIII, and chronic allograft dysfunction was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m^2.

RESULTS: Of 303 recipients, MS was diagnosed in 94 cases (31.0%) and the prevalence of MS in the first 3 years and after 3 years posttransplantation were 21.4% and 34.7% (P=0.042), respectively. There was an association between advanced age and chronic allograft dysfunction and higher prevalence of MS. Regarding non-anti-hypertensive and non-hypoglycemic medications, m-TOR inhibitor (odds ratio [OR], 2.14; 95% CI, 1.02–4.5) was associated with the prevalence of MS. Multivariate analysis revealed MS was associated with the use of beta-blockers (OR, 3.17; 95% CI, 1.88–5.32). Patients with no MS components had 26.9% prevalence of chronic allograft dysfunction and patients with higher numbers of MS components had 87.5% prevalence of chronic allograft dysfunction, which was significantly different (P=0.022).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that the prevalence of MS was higher in patients with higher numbers of MS components, especially after 3 years posttransplantation. Presence of more components of MS was associated with worse renal function in renal transplant recipients.

Keywords: Allografts, Diabetes Mellitus, Glomerular Filtration Rate, metabolic syndrome, Obesity