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Is Serum Albumin a Marker of Nutritional Status in Hemodialysis Patients without Evidence of Inflammation?
Author(s) -
Santos Nelma Scheyla José dos,
Draibe Sergio Antonio,
Kamimura Maria Ayako,
Canziani Maria Eugênia Fernandes,
Cendoroglo Miguel,
Júnior Alexandre Gabriel,
Cuppari Lilian
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
artificial organs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.684
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1525-1594
pISSN - 0160-564X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1525-1594.2003.07273.x
Subject(s) - hypoalbuminemia , hemodialysis , medicine , albumin , serum albumin , malnutrition , inflammation , c reactive protein , gastroenterology
Hypoalbuminemia, a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients, can be a consequence of a combination of malnutrition and inflammatory reactions. The purpose of this study was to analyze serum albumin as a marker of nutritional status in maintenance hemodialysis patients with no signs of inflammation. In a cross‐sectional study, we selected 40 stable hemodialysis patients with normal levels of C‐reactive protein (<0.8 mg/dL). The patients were classified as well nourished (65%) or malnourished (35%) according to the subjective global assessment. No significant differences were observed in serum albumin concentrations (immunoturbidimetric method) between well‐nourished (4.3 ± 0.3 g/dL) and malnourished (4.0 ± 0.5 g/dL) patients, and the mean values were within the normal range in both groups. Albumin was inversely correlated with age (n=40; r=−0.32; P =0.02) and directly with energy intake (n=28; r=0.43; P =0.04). In this study, serum albumin did not discriminate well‐nourished and malnourished hemodialysis patients without evidence of inflammation.