Peritoneal Transport in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients Using Glucose-Based and Amino Acid-Based Solutions

Objective To evaluate peritoneal transport of fluid and solutes in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients using amino acid (AA)-based versus glucose-based dialysis solutions.Methods Using iodine-labeled human serum albumin ( 125 I-HSA) as intraperitoneal volume marker, peritoneal transport was investigated in a group of 20 clinically stable patients (11 females and 9 men, age 53 ± 15 years) on CAPD for 15 – 101 months. Two paired 4-hour dwells, one with 1.36% glucose and one with 1.1% AA dialysis solution, were performed in each patient. Intraperitoneal dialysate volume, fluid absorption rate, and diffusive mass transport coefficients (K BD ) and sieving coefficients (S) for glucose, creatinine, urea, potassium, and total protein were estimated for each dwell study. Dwell studies with AA solution were used to estimate K BD values for individual AAs.Results Intraperitoneal dialysate volume was higher for AA solution in comparison with glucose solution due to the higher osmolality of the AA solution. No statistically significant difference was found for K BD or S for creatinine, urea, potassium, or total protein in the dwell studies with either solution, whereas K BD for glucose was higher with AA than with glucose solution. Mean values of K BD of AA were similar but with high standard deviation, reflecting inter-individual variations in peritoneal transport rate.Conclusion Our results indicate that the AA peritoneal transport rate is strongly dependent on transport characteristics of the individual peritoneal membrane.