About 30 % of kidney transplant recipients will develop diabetes mellitus. This condition is a risk factor for graft dysfunction, graft loss and increased mortality of patients. Inflammatory reactions within the graft and proteinuria are considered as pathogenetic mechanisms.~Recent studies indicated that pioglitazone might have beneficial effects on the urinary protein excretion of type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy and was able to reduce systemic inflammation.~This lead to the hypothesis that pioglitazone could improve proteinuria of kidney transplant patients with diabetes.~Comparison: Effects of pioglitazone vs. placebo on proteinuria and renal function of kidney transplant recipients in a cross over study.
The purpose of this study is to test whether pioglitazone is able to prevent the progression of diabetic nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients with diabetes mellitus.