CAN DAILY DIALYSATE PROTEIN LOSS BE PREDICTED FROM PROTEIN/ CREATININE RATIO ?

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a commonly used renal replacement method. These patients lose 5-10 gram/ day protein during the dialysis procedure. The losses are greater in high transporters, during the peritonitis attack and in case of peritoneal fibrosis. Urine Protein / Creatinine ratio is a practical method and used to estimate daily protein loss in clinical nephrology. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between dialysate proteine/creatinine ratio and daily protein loss. We studied 12 stable PD patients [6 men, 6 women; mean age: 31 ± 8 years. Patients underwent a standard peritoneal equilibration test (PET). In addition, dialysate protein was measured in fourth hour samples and 24 hours dialysate samples. Daily protein loss calculated from protein/creatinine ratio and from protein in the 24 hours samples* daily dialysate volume. The mean of protein loss in the dialysate was 9.3±2.8 g/day and 11.5+3.5 g/day in the 24 hours sample and protein/creatinine ratio, respectively. There is a significant correlation between two methods (r=0.71, p< 0.05). In conclusion, according to our results, Protein/ Creatinine ratio is a useful method to estimate daily protein loss in the patients underwent routine PET.