Erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in chronic renal failure and after renal transplantation

Erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) activity was measured in 16 non-dialysed patients with chronic uraemia, 17 patients on regular peritoneal dialysis, 18 patients on regular haemodialysis, 10 renal transplanted patients with normal renal function, and in 41 healthy control subjects. In non-dialysed uraemic patients G-6-PD values were not significantly different from those in the control group. Peritoneal dialysed patients had slightly, but significantly higher G-6-PD values than controls (P < 0.01). Haemodialysed patients demonstrated the highest G-6-PD values of all groups, being significantly higher than in both controls (P < 0.001), non-dialysed (P < 0.01), peritoneal dialysed (P < 0.01), and renal transplanted patients (P < 0.01). Renal transplanted patients had G-6-PD values which not differed significantly from controls. In all uraemic patients G-6-PD activity was positively correlated to serum creatinine (rs = 0.64, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated to haemoglobin (rs = -0.61, P < 0.001. In the peritoneal and haemodialysed groups G-6-PD activity was correlated to the reticulocyte counts (rs = 0.54, P < 0.001). The results indicate that a younger mean red cell age is responsible for the increased G-6-PD activity in peritoneal dialysed and haemodialysed patients.