A novel factor for primary arteriovenous fistula failure: hyperinsulinism

Dysfunction of vascular access is an important reason of morbidity for dialysis patients and it is a major factor affecting the economical burden of hemodialysis. The preferred type of vascular access is creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). However, the problem of fistula maturation rate is still a challenge. Herein, we tried to search the role of hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance as a new predictor of primary AVF failure (pAVFF) that may be a cause of intimal damage.

We included 119 patients (73 male and 46 female) with a diagnosis of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who had undergone an AVF operation by a vascular surgeon. The AVF was examined for presence of thrill on the first postoperative day. A successful cannulation with two fistula needles with a blood flow of 250 mL/min for at least one complete dialysis session, after 4 weeks of AVF surgery was defined as functioning access. Insulin resistance in our patients was determined by the standard homeostasis model assessment (homa-IR). A logistic-regression analysis was performed to investigate the independent factors related with pAVFF.

Detection of pAVFF occurred in 27 (22.7%) patients. The presence of thrill, amount of daily proteinuria, insulin levels, homa-IR, and serum albumin levels were found to be significantly different between patients with fistula failure and those without pAVFF. The logistic-regression analysis of preoperative factors revealed the following OR (odds ratio) and 95% CI values: homa-IR 1.205 (1.063-1.366) (p = 0.004), serum albumin 0.398 (0.178-0.892) (p = 0.025), and the amount of daily proteinuria 1.307 (1.012-1.688) (p = 0.041). Even after addition of the presence of postoperative thrill on AVF, which was a postoperative strong clinical factor to the analysis, mean homa-IR and mean serum albumin continued to be independent predictors of pAVFF.

Insulin resistance or hyperinsulinism may be a significant cause of pAVFF, which emphasizes the role of endothelium in fistula dysfunction.