Pattern of lipid profile in patients on maintenance hemodialysis

This hospital-based cross-sectional comparative observational study was performed to determine the pattern of lipid profile in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. The study was performed at the Department of Nephro-Urology, Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, Pakistan from April 2008 to June 2008. Fifty patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) were studied. They comprised of 31 males and 19 females, the mean duration on HD was 7.58 +/- 2.05 yrs, with frequency of two to three sessions per week and each session lasting for four hours. Additionally, 25 healthy volunteers (16 male, 9 female) were also studied. After obtaining informed, written consent, general information of each patient was recorded on the proforma. After 12-hours fasting, blood samples were drawn from the arterio-venous fistula before starting dialysis. The total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) or low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels more than 95th percentile for age and gender or high density lipoprotein (HDL) less then 35 mg/dL was defined as dyslipidemia. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were performed using SPSS version 16.0. The age among MHD and control groups was 47.88 +/- 13.92 and 54.56 +/- 11.16 years respectively. Serum TG and lipoprotein-a (LPa) were significantly increased (P = < 0.001 for each) while HDL-c was significantly lower (P = < 0.001) in MHD patients than in the control group. The serum cholesterol, LDL-c, VLDL-c and chylomicron levels were not significantly different in the two groups. Our study suggests that patients on MHD show abnormalities of lipid metabolism like hypertriglyceridemia, elevated lipoprotein-a and low HDL-c, which could contribute to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease that may increase the morbidity and mortality in these patients.