Relationship between serum apelin and cardiac parameters in hemodialysis patients

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this work was to study the apelin level in hemodialysis (HD) patients and assess its association with cardiac parameters among these patients. Background Mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on maintenance HD is higher by several folds compared with that in the general population, and up to 50% of deaths in these patients are caused by cardiovascular diseases. Apelin, which is a recently discovered active peptide, has a broad range of physiological and pathological actions. Patients and methods A total of 80 nondiabetic end-stage renal failure patients on regular HD, in addition to 20 apparently healthy individuals as the control group, were studied. Lipid profile, serum apelin level, and echocardiography were measured in all patients. Results Serum apelin is highly significantly lower in ESRD patients on maintenance HD compared with that in the control group (P ≤ 0.001). Serum apelin was significantly positively correlated with left ventricular end-systolic dimension (r = 0.290, P = 0.038), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (r = 0.30, P = 0.021), interventricular septum (r = 0.295, P = 0.036), right ventricle (r = 0.271, P = 0.042), left atrium (r = 0.357, P = 0.014), and aorta (r = 0.339, P = 0.023) in ESRD patients. Conclusion The apelin level was highly significantly lower in HD patients and it was significantly positively correlated with echocardiographic parameters. Thus it might be involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease in ESRD.