Association between peritoneal protein excretion, peritonitis and D/P phosphate, in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Introduction: There is a relationship between increased transfer of solutes (increased D/P creatinine) and decreased ultrafiltration, increased mortality and risk of technique failure in peritoneal dialysis patients. High rates of solute transport are associated with increased peritoneal protein excretion (PPE) and this has been associated with an increased risk of peritonitis. Our objective was to evaluate the possible association between the PPE, the number of episodes of peritonitis and the D/P phosphate.

Material And Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study in PD patients. D/P phosphate, PPE, the number of episodes of peritonitis, as well as adequacy parameters and clinical and biochemical variables were measured.

Results: We included 60 patients on ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. We found a significant positive correlation (r=.369, P=.005) between the D/P phosphate and PPE, as well as between the PPE and the number of episodes of peritonitis (r=.65, p=.044). Finally, we found that the higher PPE and D/P phosphate, the lower serum albumin was (r=–0.50, p=.001 and r=–0.621, p=.000, respectively).

Conclusions: PPE is significantly associated with the number of episodes of peritonitis and the D/P phosphate.