Pituitary-testicular function in cyclosporin-treated renal transplant patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences inLH, FSH, PRL and testosterone levels in 20 men on haemodialysisand 26 men following renal transplantation. Nineteen of therenal transplant recipients were receiving cyclosporin, azathioprine,and prednisone, while the seven remaining individuals receivedazathioprine and prednisone. A subgroup of eight patients werealso studied longitudinally while undergoing maintenance haemodialysisand after transplantation. The results show that successfulrenal transplantation resulted in a normalization of hormonelevels in either the cross-sectional or longitudinal groups,the degree of which was unaffected by treatment modality. Cyclosporingiven in therapeutic doses does not alter the pituitary-testicularfunction in renal transplant recipients.