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Changes of Plasma Amino Acid Profile in Hemodialysis Patients |
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| Authors: | YS Shin HM Cho YO Kim YS Kim YS Chang MD Lee BK Bang |
| Affiliation: | Faculdade Evangélica de Medicina do Paraná-Brazil; Post-Graduation Nephrology Program of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil; Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Paraná-Brazil; Divisions of Renal Medicine and Baxter Novum, Department of Clinical Science, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. |
| Abstract: | Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of HCV on two markers of systemic inflammation, serum CRP, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in HD patients. Methods: The study included 118 HD patients (47% males, age 47 ± 13 years, 9% diabetics) who were treated by on standard HD for at least 6 months. The patients were divided in two groups, depending on the presence (HCV+) or absence (HCV–) of serum antibodies against HCV. Serum albumin (S-Alb), plasma high sensitivity CRP (hsCRP), IL-6, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured, and the values were compared with 22 healthy controls. Results: The median of hsCRP, IL-6, and the hsCRP/IL-6 ratio were: 3.5 vs. 2.1 mg/L, p < 0.05; 4.3 vs. 0.9 pg/mL, p < 0.0001; and 0.8 vs. 2.7 pg/mL, p < 0.0001 for patients and controls, respectively. Age, gender, S-Alb, IL-6, and hsCRP did not differ between the HCV+ and HCV– patients. However, HCV+ patients had higher ALT (29 ± 21 vs. 21 ± 25 UI/L) and had been a longer time on HD (6.1 ± 3.0 vs. 4.0 ± 2.0 years) (p < 0.0001), respectively. Moreover, HCV+ patients had a significantly lower median hsCRP/IL-6 ratio (0.7 vs. 0.9; p < 0.05) as compared to the HCV group. Conclusion: The finding that the hsCRP/IL-6 ratio was lower in HCV+ patients than in HCV– patients suggests that hsCRP may be a less useful marker of inflammation in HCV+ patients and that a different cut-off value for hsCRP may be required to define inflammation in HD patients. |
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