USEFULNESS OF SERUM PROCALCITONIN AS A PREDICTOR BIOMARKER OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS.

Background:The most common cause of death among the patients with end-stage renal disease is coronary artery disease. It is known that inflammation plays a key role in coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between serum procalcitonin levels and atherosclerosis among dialysis patients. Material and Method: A total of consecutive 74dialysispatients (mean age: 54.92?13.9 years and male/female: 47/27) were included in this study. All participants were divided into two groups according to presence of atherosclerosis.We have planned to compare the patients on hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) each other considering the parameters of inflammation in particular serum procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) with atherosclerosis. Univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used by using SPSS packet programme. Results:The mean of ages of HD and PD patients were 59.3?11.3 and 50.7?14.9 years respectively. The levels of PCT were higher among atherosclerotic dialysis patients (p<0.001 and p=0.036, respectively). Considering the patients on hemodialysis, there were significant correlation between CRP and PCT. However this significant correlation was not observed among the patients on PD despite they had increased levels of CRP and PCT (p<0.001, r=0.62 and p=0.362, r=-0.16, respectively). Conclusion:Combining PCT and CRP levels could be a reliable marker of chronic inflammation that is associated with atherosclerosis in dialysis patients.