The effect of immunosuppression provided by tacrolimus on antioxidant enzymes in liver transplantation

Aim: The success of liver transplantation depends on the desired level of immunosuppression. This is very important in terms of the possibility of acute and chronic rejection. For this reason, it is very important to detect biomarkers that will allow measuring possible responses of the immune system and to measure antioxidant systems in terms of oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated serum neopterin, interferon gamma, indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase, glutathione S-transferase levels and activity determinations of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase enzymes in hemolysate samples of liver transplant patients, and the relationships between these values in terms of diagnosis. Material and method: This study was carried out with the approval of the ethics committee numbered 2018/144 from İnönü University and the support of the BAP project numbered TDK-2019-1641. The study was conducted with 44 patients who underwent liver transplantation and 44 control groups at Turgut Özal Medical Center Liver Transplant Institute between January 2019 and January 2020. Results: Neopterin, indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase levels of the patient group were found to be statistically significantly higher than those of the control group, while glutathione reductase levels were found to be lower (p˂0,05). Conclusion: In this study, we observed significant changes in the biomarker levels of liver transplant patients. Together with these results, these results obtained in liver transplant patients will help to realize more successful diagnosis and treatments in terms of rejection and immunosuppression. Keywords: Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase, interferon gamma, liver transplantation, neopterin, tacrolimus.