Abstract

Cyclosporine A (CsA) treatment often causes post-transplant diabetes mellitus. We aimed to determine whether eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) could improve CsA-induced pancreatic dysfunction, while still maintaining its immunosuppressive activity. EPA did ameliorate impaired glucose tolerance and pancreatic islet vacuolation caused by CsA. EPA, however, did not recover the impairment of lipopolysaccharide-induced pancreatic NFATc3 activation induced by CsA, suggesting that it did not impair CsA’s immunosuppressive activity. CsA is an important immunosuppressant drug used to prevent transplant rejection. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it identifies EPA as a potential treatment to counter the negative side effects of CsA use, while still maintaining its desired activity.

Key words: CsA, islet cell vacuolation, glucose intolerance, EPA, NFAT