Proteomics analysis of the peritoneal dialysate effluent reveals the presence of calcium-regulation proteins and acute inflammatory response.

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a form of renal replacement used for advanced chronic kidney disease. PD effluent holds a great potential for biomarker discovery for diagnosis and prognosis. In this study a novel approach to unravelling the proteome of PD effluent based-on dithiothreitol depletion followed by 2D-SDS-PAGE and protein identification using tandem mass spectrometry is proposed.

Results: A total of 49 spots were analysed revealing 25 proteins differentially expressed, among them many proteins involved in calcium regulation.

Conclusions: Remarkably, a group of proteins dealing with calcium metabolism and calcium regulation has been found to be lost through peritoneal dialysate effluent, giving thus a potential explanation to the calcification of soft tissues in patients subjected to peritoneal dialysis and kidney injury. Comparison of literature dealing with PD is difficult due to differences in sample treatment and analytical methodologies.