African Americans have a higher rate of rejection of kidney transplants than do Caucasians. The goal of this study was to determine if the use of micronutrients that improve immunity can reduce the rates of renal transplant rejections in African Americans. This study was done on a limited number of patients and should be viewed as a preliminary study.
The micronutrients used included 4.5 gm. arginine twice a day and either 15 mL. omega-3 fatty acid twice daily or Coromega (European Reference Botanical Laboratories) 5 packets per day (1,450 mg. eicosapentaenoic acid and 950 mg. docosahexaenoic acid.) Eicosapentaenoic acid is EPA and docosanexaenoic acid is DHA.
CONCLUSION: Immunonutrients definitely reduced the rates of transplant rejection in African Americans. Further studies are warranted. Only 4% of patients rejected the kidney transplants with the supplements. This compares favorably with the rejection rate for African Americans of 25% usually seen.
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PMID: 16417441.
Summary #092.
