Comparative study of serum levels of albumin and hs-CRP in hemodialysis patients according to protein intake levels

Abstract

Protein-energy malnutrition, PEM, and increased hs-CRP level are considered to be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This is commonly referred to as the vicious circle of malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease (MIA syndrome) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Low protein intake can decrease the serum level of albumin and increase inflammational markers; further, both low serum albumin and high hs-CRP are independent risk factors for all-cause mortality in HD patients. The aim of this study is comparing the serum levels of albumin and hs-CRP in HD patients according to the protein intake levels. The total number of subjects was 60 hemodialysis patients; they were grouped by dietary protein intake: low protein intake group (LPI, protein intake ＜ 1.0 g/kg IBW, 11 men and 19 women) and adequate protein intake group (API, protein intake ≥ 1.0 g/kg IBW, 12 men and 18 women). Blood biochemical parameters, nutrient intake, and dietary behaviors were compared between the LPI and API groups. The LPI group showed a significantly lower serum level of albumin and higher serum level of hs-CRP than the API group (p ＜ 0.05). The LPI group showed a significantly lower intake of most nutrients than the API group (p ＜ 0.05). Index of Nutritional Quality of most nutrients of the LPI and API groups were lower than 1.0. Dietary protein intake was positively correlated with the serum level of albumin (r = 0.306, p ＜ 0.05) and negatively correlated with the serum level of hs-CRP (r = -0.435, p ＜ 0.01). The serum level of hs-CRP was negatively correlated with that of albumin (r = -0.393, p ＜ 0.01). According to these result, serum albumin and hs-CRP in HD patients were influenced by the protein intake levels. To prevent MIA syndrome, it is necessary to improve nutritional status, especially in protein and energy.