The following is the summary of “Changes in serum pigment epithelium-derived factor levels after kidney transplantation in patients with end-stage renal disease” published in the October 2022 issue of Renal failure by Szentimrei, et al.

The igment epithelium (PEDF) factor inhibits angiogenesis by blocking the serine protease. There are strong correlations between its serum level and metabolic markers. However, the correlation between PEDF concentrations and lipid indices in renal transplant (TX) patients needs to be better understood. Thus, researchers set out to look at how PEDF levels correlated with lipid markers in TX patients. 107 Texans with TX (47 men, 23 women, mean age 51.7±  12.4 years) and 34 healthy adults served as controls. Prior to TX and then 1 and 6 months later, researchers measured blood creatinine, C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, and lipid markers. The paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity associated with high-density lipoproteins was evaluated spectrophotometrically. 

Lipoprint was used to analyze lipoprotein fractions. Concentrations of PEDF and oxLDL (oxidized low-density lipoprotein) were evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients’ pre-transplant PEDF levels were substantially greater than healthy controls (P<0.001). A month after the transplant, their PEDF level had dropped considerably to that of the healthy controls; this reduction was maintained throughout the 6-month follow-up period. The patient group oxLDL levels were substantially greater than those of the control group, but PON1 activities were significantly lower. 

Over the course of the study’s follow-up period, researchers discovered that PEDF was positively associated with total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), and the small HDL subfraction, and negatively associated with mean LDL size and the large HDL subfraction. Renal transplant patients often have elevated oxidative stress and accelerated atherogenesis, and PEDF may be a contributing factor.

Source: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0886022X.2022.2106243