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World J Transplant. Jun 18, 2021; 11(6): 212-219
Published online Jun 18, 2021. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v11.i6.212
Medical nutritional therapy for renal transplantation in the COVID-19 pandemic
Gamze Akbulut, Feray Gencer-Bingol
Gamze Akbulut, Feray Gencer-Bingol, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara 06490, Turkey
Author contributions: Akbulut G wrote the paper and checked; Gencer-Bingol F wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gamze Akbulut, PhD, Professor, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Emniyet Abant Caddesi, Ankara 06490, Turkey. dytgamzea@gmail.com
Received: February 19, 2021
Peer-review started: February 19, 2021
First decision: May 5, 2021
Revised: May 11, 2021
Accepted: May 26, 2021
Article in press: May 26, 2021
Published online: June 18, 2021
Processing time: 113 Days and 0.2 Hours
Abstract

Nutritional therapy is very important at renal transplantation. Nutrition has become more vital for transplantation patients owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Inadequate nutrition can negatively affect the immune system. For this reason, adequate protein and energy intake should be provided to the patients. Also, overconsumption of saturated fat, sugar, and refined carbohydrates can both negatively affect the immune system and trigger chronic diseases in transplantation patients. In addition, vitamins and minerals should be monitored and inadequacy should be prevented due to immunomodulatory effects. Applying nutritional therapy suitable for the symptoms of renal transplantation patients and preventing comorbidities may reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: Nutrition; Renal transplantation; COVID-19

Core Tip: Before and after renal transplantation, recipient patients are in the risk group for the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Therefore, adequate energy and nutrient requirements should be provided and nutritional therapy should be planned according to the symptoms of the patients.