Effect of anti-HCV positivity on markers of malnutrition and inflammation in hemodialysis patients.

Aim: To investigate the influence of anti-HCV positivity on markers of malnutrition and inflammation in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: Stable HD patients who had persistently negative or positive HCV antibodies (at least three) and without elevated aminotransferase levels in routine periodical tests with a duration of more than 12 months were included. Patients with conditions known to be associated with acute-phase responses or clinically active (HCV RNA positive) or advanced liver failure were excluded. Thirty-six anti-HCV-positive patients (22 male, 14 female, mean age 47.3 +/- 14.5 years, mean time on HD 72.0 +/- 39.0 months), were compared with 36 anti-HCV negative patients with similar age and HD duration (25 male, 11 female, mean age 49.2 +/- 13.8 years, mean time on HD 59.7 +/- 27.1 months). Malnutrition-Inflammation Score (MIS), a fully quantitative score adopted from subjective global assessment, was recorded for each patient (ranges from 0 to 30). High sensitivity serum C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and hematocrit-corrected ESR were compared as indices of the degree of inflammation beyond anthropometric evaluation and routine laboratory tests.

Results: There was no significant difference in MIS of two groups (6.1 +/- 3.2 vs. 5.6 +/- 3.2, p > 0.05). In the comparison of components of MIS, co-morbidity including number of years on dialysis was higher in anti-HCV-positive patients (p = 0.04). Anthropometric values and serum levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, ESR, and hematocrit-corrected ESR of two groups were not statistically different from each other (p > 0.05 for all). ALT (p = 0.0001) and AST (p = 0.001) levels were higher in anti-HCV-positive patients.

Conclusion: Anti-HCV positivity without active infection seems to have no additional negative effect on malnutrition and inflammation in maintenance HD patients.