RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To monitor and investigate the influencing factors of 6-methylmercaptopurine ribonucleotides (6-MMPR) in human red blood cell (RBC) in Chinese kidney transplant recipients treated with azathiopurine (AZA), and to provide references for clinical personalized medicine. METHODS: In 100 Chinese kidney transplant recipients, the concentration of 6-MMPR in RBC was detected by validated HPLC-UV method. Correlation analysis was performed to analyze the effects of various factors, including patient age, gender, weight, AZA dose and thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) activity, on the 6-MMPR concentration, and multivariate linear regression analysis was performed using SPSS20.0 software to investigate the influencing factors of 6-MMPR concentration. RESULTS: The concentration of 6-MMPR in 100 Chinese kidney transplant recipients was not normally distributed (P0.05), however, there was a significant positive correlation between TPMT activity and 6-MMPR concentration in RBC (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: TPMT activity in RBC is an independent factor affecting 6-MMPR concentration, which in turn affects the clinical efficacy and toxicity of the drug.