Effect of hemodialysis on pulmonary function tests and plasma endothelin levels

Abstract EN

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a complex illness that involves different organs including the lungs.

We studied the pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases (ABG) and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels to check whether there is any change in their levels after hemodialysis (HD) in patients with ESRD.

In this cross-sectional study (from July 2009 to April 2010), 20 patients with ESRD were evaluated.

ABG, spirometric parameters and plasma ET-1 were measured before and after HD in these patients.

Student’s t-test was performed to clarify the differences and Pearson’s test was used for correlations.

P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Significant reduction was seen in oxygen saturation (O2sat), partial pressure of carbon-dioxide (PaCO2) and oxygen (PaO2) after a HD session (P < 0.001).

Also, improvement was seen in all spirometric parameters except forced expiratory volume (FEV1) / forced vital capacity (FVC) after HD.

Plasma ET-1 levels decreased significantly after HD.

Mean ET-1 before HD was 6.88 ± 5.81 pg / mL while it was 3.91 ± 2.76 pg / mL after HD (P = 0.009).

Based on the plasma levels of ET-1, the patients were divided into two groups.

The mean level of ET-1 was higher in the first group.

Significant increase was seen in spirometric parameters in the second group.

Our study suggests that, in patients with ESRD, plasma ET 1 level is higher than in the normal population, and this is closely related to deterioration of pulmonary function tests.

Significant reduction of plasma ET-1 may be an important factor in the improvement of spirometry parameters after HD.