Changes in Peritoneal Transport and Peritoneal Damage in Japanese Patients Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis Using Neutral-pH Dialysate: A Retrospective Cohort Study at Two Centers.

The effects of medium- or long-term use of neutral-pH dialysate on peritoneal transport and peritoneal damage have not been sufficiently researched.We retrospectively evaluated time-dependent changes in the dialysate-to-plasma ratio of creatinine (D/P Cr) and biomarkers of peritoneal damage in the effluent of 65 patients who underwent peritoneal dialysis (PD) with neutral-pH dialysate, including 48 who underwent medium-term PD (≥3 years) and 17 who underwent long-term PD (≥5 years).Patients who underwent medium-term PD initially had a D/P Cr of 0.59 (range: 0.53 - 0.74), nonsignificantly changing to 0.65 (range: 0.55 - 0.73), 0.67 (range: 0.56 - 0.74), and 0.67 (range: 0.62 - 0.72) after 1, 2, and 3 years respectively (p = 0.30, p = 0.26, and p = 0.19). Patients who underwent long-term PD initially had a D/P Cr of 0.57 (range: 0.52 - 0.62), nonsignificantly changing to 0.61 (range: 0.52 - 0.69), 0.64 (range: 0.54 - 0.67), 0.62 (range: 0.57 - 0.66), 0.65 (range: 0.50 - 0.72), and 0.61 (range: 0.48 - 0.7) after 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years respectively (p = 0.49, p = 0.31, p = 0.24, p = 0.23, and p = 0.46). After 3 years, a significant increase in effluent hyaluronan (HA) from 90 ng/mL initially (range: 66 - 121 ng/mL) to 144 ng/ mL (range: 116 - 216 ng/mL) was observed (p = 0.04).No significant change in D/P Cr was observed in patients who underwent PD with neutral-pH dialysate. However, effluent HA, which is a biomarker for peritoneal damage, increased. In patients using neutral-pH dialysate, D/P Cr cannot be a biomarker for determining PD discontinuation within 5 years, but effluent HA might be useful.