Association of Adiponectin With Body Composition and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients

BACKGROUND: In the general population, circulating adiponectin is associated with a favorable cardiovascular risk profile (e.g., lower triglycerides and body fat) and decreased mortality. Hemodialysis (HD) patients have comparatively higher adiponectin concentrations, but prior studies examining the adiponectin-mortality association in this population have not accounted for body composition nor shown a consistent relationship. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: We examined baseline serum adiponectin concentrations in 501 HD patients across 13 dialysis centers from the prospective MADRAD (Malnutrition, Diet, and Racial Disparities in Chronic Kidney Disease) cohort (entry period 10/2011-2/2013, follow-up through 8/2013). PREDICTOR: Serum adiponectin concentration in tertiles (Tertiles 1, 2, and 3 defined as <=16.1, >16.1–30.1, >30.1–100.0 ug/ml, respectively). Adjustment variables included case-mix and laboratory tests (age, sex, race, ethnicity, vintage, diabetes, serum albumin, total iron binding capacity, serum creatinine, white blood cell count, phosphate, hemoglobin, normalized protein catabolic rate), body composition surrogates (subcutaneous, visceral, and total body fat; lean body mass), and serum lipid levels (cholesterol, HDL, triglycerides). OUTCOMES: All-cause mortality using survival (Cox) models incrementally adjusted for case-mix and laboratory tests. RESULTS: Among 501 HD patients, 50 deaths were observed during 631.1 person-years of follow-up time. In case-mix– and laboratory-adjusted Cox analyses, the highest adiponectin tertile was associated with increased mortality vs. the lowest tertile (HR, 3.35; 95% CI, 1.50–7.47). These associations were robust in analyses that additionally accounted for body composition (HR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.61–8.24) and lipids (HR, 3.64; 95% CI, 1.34–7.58). LIMITATIONS: Residual confounding cannot be excluded. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, higher adiponectin is associated with a 3-fold higher death risk in HD patients independent of body composition and lipids. Future studies are needed to elucidate underlying mechanisms, and to determine therapeutic targets associated with improved outcomes in HD patients

Is there a role for intradialytic parenteral nutrition? A review of the evidence.

Protein-energy wasting (PEW) is highly prevalent in people with stages 4 and 5 chronic kidney disease, particularly in maintenance dialysis patients, and many indicators of PEW correlate strongly with mortality. Consequently, the causes, prevention, and treatment of PEW are active areas of investigation. A major cause of PEW is insufficient intake of nutrients, especially protein and energy (calories). Standard methods for increasing nutritional intake in patients with chronic kidney disease with PEW include dietary counseling and use of food supplements. If nutrient intake does not increase sufficiently, tube feeding and total parenteral nutrition may be considered. For maintenance hemodialysis patients, intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN), an intravenous infusion of essential nutrients during hemodialysis treatments, may be used. Many studies have evaluated the effectiveness and safety of IDPN and show that IDPN has a good safety profile and also may improve protein-energy status. However, most studies have limitations in experimental design, such as small numbers of patients, lack of adequate controls, inclusion of patients without PEW, uncontrolled or unmonitored oral intake, nonrandomized design, or short duration. Additionally, most studies used nutritional or inflammatory indicators, rather than the more important outcomes of morbidity, mortality, or quality of life. Thus, although IDPN may partially satisfy the nutritional needs of maintenance hemodialysis patients who have or are at risk of PEW and who have substantial, but not adequate, protein and/or energy intake, longer term randomized prospective clinical trials with appropriate control groups are necessary to more definitively evaluate the clinical effectiveness and indications for IDPN

Is there a role for intradialytic parenteral nutrition? A review of the evidence.

Protein-energy wasting (PEW) is highly prevalent in people with stages 4 and 5 chronic kidney disease, particularly in maintenance dialysis patients, and many indicators of PEW correlate strongly with mortality. Consequently, the causes, prevention, and treatment of PEW are active areas of investigation. A major cause of PEW is insufficient intake of nutrients, especially protein and energy (calories). Standard methods for increasing nutritional intake in patients with chronic kidney disease with PEW include dietary counseling and use of food supplements. If nutrient intake does not increase sufficiently, tube feeding and total parenteral nutrition may be considered. For maintenance hemodialysis patients, intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN), an intravenous infusion of essential nutrients during hemodialysis treatments, may be used. Many studies have evaluated the effectiveness and safety of IDPN and show that IDPN has a good safety profile and also may improve protein-energy status. However, most studies have limitations in experimental design, such as small numbers of patients, lack of adequate controls, inclusion of patients without PEW, uncontrolled or unmonitored oral intake, nonrandomized design, or short duration. Additionally, most studies used nutritional or inflammatory indicators, rather than the more important outcomes of morbidity, mortality, or quality of life. Thus, although IDPN may partially satisfy the nutritional needs of maintenance hemodialysis patients who have or are at risk of PEW and who have substantial, but not adequate, protein and/or energy intake, longer term randomized prospective clinical trials with appropriate control groups are necessary to more definitively evaluate the clinical effectiveness and indications for IDPN

Bartonella-Associated Endocarditis with Severe Active Crescentic Glomerulonephritis and Acute Renal Failure

We report a case of severe acute kidney failure due to crescentic glomerulonephritis who presented initially with culture-negative endocarditis with vegetations on the aortic valve. Anti-nuclear and anti-phospholipid antibodies were positive with initially negative anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs). Kidney biopsy revealed severe acute crescentic glomerulonephritis with mesangial immune complex deposition. PR3-ANCA subsequently become positive, and the patient developed worsening kidney failure requiring hemodialysis. This case illustrates that Bartonella can present as culture-negative endocarditis with severe crescentic glomerulonephritis with positive PR-3 ANCAs and can mimic ANCA-associated crescentic glomerulonephritis

Median Nerve and Ulnar Nerve Entrapment with Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in a Hemodialysis Patient Following Creation of an Arteriovenous Fistula.

Neurological and vascular complications associated with creation of arteriovenous access need to be recognized promptly to deliver appropriate interventions for relief of symptoms and avoid loss of function of the involved extremity. We present here a 55-year-old female with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis secondary to diabetic nephropathy who had a surgical creation of first stage of the brachial artery-basilic vein fistula in the left arm. She subsequently developed pain and weakness of the left arm which was diagnosed as median and ulnar nerve entrapment. She was treated with surgical nerve release and neurolysis and her symptoms improved