Leptin and beta2-microglobulin kinetics with three different dialysis modalities.

BACKGROUND: Leptin is a protein produced by fat cells and involved in body weight regulation. In patients with normal kidney function, leptin has been considered an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. In uremic patients, leptin in plasma serum was assumed to be associated with malnutrition, inflammation and atherosclerosis. Because of its molecular weight and characteristics, leptin can be considered as a protein-bound uremic retention solute. Some authors have reported the possibility of decreasing the serum leptin concentration with high flux membranes, but limited data are available on the elimination with medium-flux membranes or alternative dialysis strategies such as hemodiafiltration.
METHODS: We evaluated the kinetics of leptin and beta2m in a study of 18 chronic hemodialysis patients using low-flux, medium-flux and high-flux biocompatible membranes, the last one used in hemodiafiltration (HDF). Blood samples for leptin and beta2m were collected pre- and post-treatment and 30 minutes after the end of treatment, over a 1-week period that included 3 dialysis sessions. Clearances of leptin and beta2m across the dialyzer were also determined directly from the arterial and venous blood concentrations 60 and 210 minutes after starting dialysis.
RESULTS: At baseline, all groups showed similar leptin (18.8+/-4.4 ng/mL) and beta2m concentrations (29.2+/-7.1 ng/mL). After a single dialysis session, a reduction of both solutes was observed with HDF (39.8+/-1.9%, 78.1+/-4.9) and medium flux membranes (18.2+/-0.9%, 52.2+/-1.7%), whereas the concentrations remained unchanged with the low-flux membranes. After one-week period, a trend of reduction of plasma pre dialysis leptin and beta2m were observed with HDF and medium flux membranes. At 60 minutes, HDF showed the best instantaneous clearance across the filter for leptin (56.2+/-10.1 ml/min) and beta2m (75.3+/-4.4 ml/min). The magnitude of post dialysis rebound of leptin at 30 min was variable and strongly correlated with the instantaneous clearance of the solute (r2= 0.88).
CONCLUSIONS: Leptin serum concentration can be influenced by dialysis modalities and membrane permeability; data on rebound suggest a multicompartimental kinetic of leptin similar to beta2m. Leptin removal, as measured by the reduction rate, can be considered as an index of dialysis efficiency for protein-bound uremic retention solutes.