A pilot study of piracetam in cuprophan hemodialysis

Twelve patients, 8 male and 4 female, aged from 26 to 70 years were studied. They were on hemodialysis (HD) 4 h three times weekly with cuprophan hollow fiber dialyzers (Gambro 120M) and dialysate containing 35 mEq/L of acetate. The study compares two random HD sessions on each patient. Sixty minutes prior to one random session a placebo was administered orally, and prior to another random session piracetam was given at a dose of 8 g. Heparin dosage was not reduced during HD using QB 200 ml, QD 500 ml, and no ultrafiltration. Blood samples for leukocyte and platelet counts, serum C3, arterial paO2 and paCO2, thromboxane-B2 (TxB2), and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) were taken from the arterial line before and at 15, 60, and 240 min during HD. Leukopenia at 15 min of HD was found to be less severe (p less than 0.01) in the piracetam study than in the placebo, whereas platelet count did not change. Serum C3 was slightly increased in both studies. Arterial oxygen was preserved close to the initial levels by piracetam (91.66 mm Hg versus 81.08, p less than 0.01 at 60 min, and 93.08 versus 80.17 mm Hg, p less than 0.01 at 240 min of HD sessions) but paCO2 did not change significantly. TxB2 increased less with piracetam in comparison to placebo (p less than 0.01 or p less than 0.001), but beta-TG was reduced significantly by piracetam at any time during HD (p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)