Malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome and hepatitis C in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Protein-energy malnutrition and inflammation are among the leading causes of poor outcome in hemodialysis patients. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is accompanied by elevated proinflammatory mediators, also found in dialysis patients with malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome. We aimed to study the rate and characteristics of malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome (MICS) in hemodialysis patients, especially those with hepatitis C. The study included 147 patients (mean age 55.1 +/- 12.9 years), 24.5% of whom were HCV-positive, undergoing adequate hemodialysis three times a week for the last 52.7 +/- 52.5 months. Parameters of nutrition and inflammation were investigated to evaluate MICS. HCV-positive vs. HCV-negative patients had significantly higher hematocrit (29.6 +/- 4.5 g/dL vs. 28.1 +/- 4.3, P < 0.05), uric acid (345.8 +/- 96.5 vs. 321.3 +/- 118.8 micromol/mL, P < 0.05), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, also known as serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT]) (23.3 +/- 14.9 vs. 17.8 +/- 9 U/L, P < 0.008), alanine aminotransferase (ALT, also known as serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase [SGPT]) (41.2 +/- 28.7 vs. 26.6 +/- 17.1 U/L, P < 0.0003), serum creatinine (980.4 +/- 219.1 vs. 888.4 +/- 202.9 micromol/mL, P < 0.022), intact parathyroid hormone (329.7 +/- 630.5 vs. 110.2 +/- 145.3 pg/mL, P < 0.002), malnutrition-inflammation score (7.4 +/- 5.2 vs. 5.6 +/- 4.1, P < 0.038), and Charlson comorbidity index (4.5 +/- 1.5 vs. 4 +/- 1.4, P < 0.05). MICS had a prevalence of 20-40% in our study. HCV-positive patients had a significantly higher prevalence of MICS than HCV-negative patients (30-40% vs. 20-30%).