Low prealbumin levels are independently associated with higher mortality in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Prealbumin, a sensitive marker for protein-energy status, is also known as an independent risk factor for mortality in hemodialysis patients. We investigated the impact of prealbumin on survival in incident peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

METHODS: In total, 136 incident PD patients (mean age, 53.0 ± 15.8 years) between 2002 and 2007 were enrolled in the study. Laboratory data, dialysis adequacy, and nutritional parameters were assessed 3 months after PD initiation. Patients were classified into 2 groups according to prealbumin level: high prealbumin (≥ 40 mg/dL) and low prealbumin (< 40 mg/dL).

RESULTS: The patients in the low-prealbumin group were older and had more comorbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases compared with the patients in the high-prealbumin group. Mean subjective global assessment scores were lower, and the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were higher in the low-prealbumin group. Serum creatinine, albumin, and transferrin levels; percent lean body mass; and normalized protein catabolic rate were positively associated, whereas subjective global assessment scores and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were negatively associated with prealbumin concentration. During the median follow-up of 49 months, patients in the lower prealbumin group had a higher mortality rate. Multivariate analysis revealed that prealbumin < 40 mg/dL (hazard ratio, 2.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-4.64) was an independent risk factor for mortality. In receiver operating characteristic curves, the area under the curve of prealbumin for mortality was the largest among the parameters.

CONCLUSION: Prealbumin levels were an independent and sensitive predictor for mortality in incident PD patients, showing a good correlation with nutritional and inflammatory markers.