Paricalcitol and Peritoneal Protein Loss in Peritoneal Dialysis: A Double-Center Study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Peritoneal protein loss (PPL) is associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD). Controversial results have been published about the effect of paricalcitol in PPL among PD patients. This study intends to analyze the relationship between paricalcitol and PPL in PD.

METHODS: In a retrospective study, prevalent PD patients were divided into 2 groups: "with paricalcitol" and "without paricalcitol". X2-test, Student's t test, Pearson correlation coefficient and Logistic Regression analysis were applied.

RESULTS: Eighty-two patients were included. PPL was lower among patients medicated with paricalcitol (5.17 ± 1.71 vs. 6.79 ± 2.10 g/24 h, p = 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, paricalcitol and dialysate/plasma ratio of creatinine (D/P creatinine) were independently related to PPL (OR 4.270 [1.437-12.684], p = 0.009 and OR 0.205 [0.064-0.659], p = 0.008, respectively), adjusted for diabetes.

CONCLUSION: Paricalcitol and D/P creatinine were independently related to PPL. Paricalcitol may have an effect on PPL in PD patients.