Use of Atorvastatin (Lipitor) to Decrease Panel Reactive Antibody Titers

Kidney transplantation is the desired treatment of choice in subjects with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). The average waiting time for subjects to receive a "deceased donor" kidney transplant is 3-5 years. Currently, there are about 60,000 subjects on the national waiting list, and about 13,000-14,000 kidney transplants are performed each year. Approximately, 25% of subjects on the waiting list are "highly sensitized", meaning that they have natural proteins (antibodies) that aggressively protect their bodies from the invasion of foreign proteins. These individuals often have a difficult time accepting transplanted kidneys. The purpose of this study is to identify subjects who are highly sensitized with these antibodies, and treat them in such a way, that it may become possible to transplant kidneys into them. Drugs like atorvastatin (Lipitor) may decrease the levels of these anti-bodies and increase the possibility of these subjects to receive a kidney transplant. This research study is being done because currently, there are very limited and cumbersome treatment options to address this issue, subjects who are highly sensitized with antibodies, may unfortunately wait for a very long time or may never get transplanted.