Daclizumab and Alemtuzumab as induction agents in adult intestinal and multivisceral transplantation. A comparison of two different regimens on 29 recipients during the early post-operative period

Introduction: Induction therapy has been recently adopted for intestinal transplant. Patients and methods: We compared during first 30 days post-transplantation 29 recipients, allocated in two groups, treated with Daclizumab (Zenapax®) or Alemtuzumab (Campath-1H®). Results: During first month, 45% of Daclizumab recipients experienced six acute cellular rejections (ACRs) of mild degree, while 63% of them developed an infection requiring treatment. We found three acute cellular rejections in 17.6% of Alemtuzumab recipients, two with moderate degree; 64.7% of them required treatment for infection. Discussion and conclusions: Graft and patient 3-years cumulative survival rate were not significantly different between groups. Alemtuzumab seems to offer a better immunosuppression during first month. © 2006 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l.