Trial of Calcineurin Inhibitor-Sparing Immunosuppression Regimen in Pediatric Liver Transplantation

The objective of this study is to compare the effects of two liver transplant immunosuppression regimens on renal function. Patients receiving the standard combination of prednisone and high-dose tacrolimus, a drug with known nephrotoxicity (Arm A) will be compared to patients receiving prednisone, low-dose tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (Arm B). MMF is an immunosuppression agent that has no associated nephrotoxicity. The primary end point of the study will be renal function as measured by glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Thirty pediatric liver transplant recipients will be randomized to these two arms in a 1:1 ratio (i.e. 15 patients in each group). Secondary end points will measure patient and graft outcome and incidence of immunosuppression-related complications, including: neurotoxicity, diabetes mellitus, growth retardation, vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, thrombocytopenia, anemia, leukopenia, acute or chronic liver graft rejection, posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), viral infections, fungal infections and bacterial infections.