Dialysate cancer antigen 125 levels in children treated with peritoneal dialysis

Peritoneal mesothelial cells are important for local host defense and membrane integrity. Dialysate cancer antigen 125 (dCA125) has been shown to be a good marker for the mesothelial cell mass in adult peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. In children on PD, no information is available yet. We measured dCA125 in 65 dialysate samples from 24 PD children with a median age of 9.2 years (range: 2-18 years) and a median treatment time of 2.6 years (range: 0.1-9.3 years) on PD. The median dCA125 concentration was 8 U/mL (range: 2.3-30.7 U/mL), and the CA125 appearance rate (CA125AR) was 66.5 U/min/1.73 m2 (range: 18-282 U/min/1.73 m2). On cross-sectional analysis, a negative correlation was found between dCA125 and duration of PD treatment (r = -0.3, p = 0.04). No relation was found between age and dCA125 or CA125AR when the first measurement from each child was considered. No correlation was found between dCA125 and the mass transfer area coefficient of creatinine (MTACcreat). Longitudinal analysis showed a negative trend in CA125AR with duration of PD treatment (p = 0.03). No relation was found between peritonitis incidence and dCA125 or CA125AR. In conclusion, no influence of age on dCA125 and CA125AR was found. Levels of dCA125 declined with the duration of PD treatment, reflecting mesothelial cell mass, but they did not correlate with the MTACcreat or the peritonitis incidence in stable PD children.