Serum IL-6, albumin and co-morbidities are closely correlated with symptoms of depression in patients on maintenance haemodialysis

Are there any seasonal changes of cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disorders and quality of life in hemodialysis patients?

OBJECTIVE

Cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disorders and impaired quality of life are very common in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, whether there are any seasonal changes of cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disorders and quality of life in HD patients is not known.

METHODS

The laboratory parameters, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, sleep quality (SQ) and cognitive function, were measured twice.

RESULTS

A total of 66 HD patients were enrolled. Pre-dialysis systolic blood pressure (BP) and pre-dialysis diastolic BP were higher, whereas predialysis creatinine and sodium were lower in January compared to July. Among domains of Short Form 36 (SF-36), physical functioning, role-physical limitation, general health perception, vitality, role emotional, Physical Component Summary Score (PCS) were higher, whereas Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score was lower in July compared to January. Stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that only change in albumin and smoking status were related with seasonal change of BDI scores. Additionally only change in Mental Component Summary score of SF-36 were related with change in PCS score of SF-36 scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive symptoms and quality of life but not SQ and cognitive function showed seasonal variability in HD patients.

Is inflammation a new risk factor of depression in haemodialysis patients?

Purpose

Prevalence of depression is high in patients with chronic kidney disease. Depression is associated with increased mortality and the higher rate of suicides in these patients. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in haemodialyzed patients in Upper Silesia region of Poland and the possible role of inflammation in depression development.

Methods

Six hundred and ninety-seven haemodialyzed patients from 22 dialysis centres in Upper Silesia region of Poland were enrolled into the study. Mean age was 59.1 ± 0.5 years, and mean time of dialysis treatment was 3.6 ± 0.2 years. Each patient received 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire for depression screening. Additional questions considering length of dialysis treatment, concomitant diseases and number of days spent in hospitals during the last year were also asked.

Results

Depressive symptoms were found in 268 (38.6 %) patients. Patients with depressive symptoms when compared with the patients without them tended to have higher C-reactive protein plasma concentration (14.3 ± 1.3 vs. 11.1 ± 0.9 mg/l; p = 0.067) and were more often dialyzed with central catheter (27.6 vs. 18.2 %; p = 0.0042). During the last year, patients with depressive symptoms spent in hospitals more days than patients without depressive symptoms (24.3 vs. 15.3 days, respectively; p < 0.0001). Significant positive correlation between BDI score and C-reactive protein level (r = 0.1625; p = 0.001) was found both in univariate and multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

(1) Depressive symptoms are frequently found (38.6 %) in haemodialyzed patients in Upper Silesia part of Poland. (2) Catheter placement and inflammation seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of depression in haemodialysis patients.

Sarcopenia: a major challenge in elderly patients with end-stage renal disease

Sarcopenia is a condition of multifaceted etiology arising in many elderly people. In patients with chronic kidney, the loss of muscle mass is much more intensive and the first signs of sarcopenia are observed in younger patients than it is expected. It is associated with the whole-body protein-energy deficiency called protein-energy wasting (PEW). It seems to be one of the major factors limiting patient's autonomy as well as decreasing the quality of life. If it cannot be treated with the simple methods requiring some knowledge and devotion, we will fail to save patients who die due to cardiovascular disease and infection, despite proper conduction of renal replacement therapy. Many factors influencing the risk of sarcopenia development have been evaluated in number of studies. Many studies also were conducted to assess the efficacy of different therapeutic strategies (diet, physical activity, hormones). Nevertheless, there is still no consensus on treatment the patients with PEW. Therefore, in the paper we present the reasons and pathophysiology of sarcopenia as an important element of protein energy wasting (PEW) in elderly patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. We also analyze possible options for treatment according to up-to-date knowledge.

Illness representations and concurrent depression symptoms in haemodialysis patients

We examined the association between illness perceptions and depression symptoms in established haemodialysis patients (HD). Two hundred and fifteen patients completed the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI). Patients with a BDI ≥ 16 were termed as ‘depressed’. Lower personal control and illness coherence, and greater perceived consequences were all related to depression significantly increasing the explained variance over clinical factors. Our findings suggest it is not disease characteristics or co-morbidity per se that is related to mood symptoms in HD patients, rather the apparent interpretation and regulation of the illness.

Wasting in chronic kidney disease

Wasting/cachexia is prevalent among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is to be distinguished from malnutrition, which is defined as the consequence of insufficient food intake or an improper diet. Malnutrition is characterized by hunger, which is an adaptive response, whereas anorexia is prevalent in patients with wasting/cachexia. Energy expenditure decreases as a protective mechanism in malnutrition whereas it remains inappropriately high in cachexia/wasting. In malnutrition, fat mass is preferentially lost and lean body mass and muscle mass is preserved. In cachexia/wasting, muscle is wasted and fat is relatively underutilized. Restoring adequate food intake or altering the composition of the diet reverses malnutrition. Nutrition supplementation does not totally reverse cachexia/wasting. The diagnostic criteria of cachexia/protein-energy wasting in CKD are considered. The association of wasting surrogates, such as serum albumin and prealbumin, with mortality is strong making them robust outcome predictors. At the patient level, longevity has consistently been observed in patients with CKD who have more muscle and/or fat, who report better appetite and who eat more. Although inadequate nutritional intake may contribute to wasting or cachexia, recent evidence indicates that other factors, including systemic inflammation, perturbations of appetite-controlling hormones from reduced renal clearance, aberrant neuropeptide signaling, insulin and insulin-like growth factor resistance, and metabolic acidosis, may be important in the pathogenesis of CKD-associated wasting. A number of novel therapeutic approaches, such as ghrelin agonists and melanocortin receptor antagonists are currently at the experimental level and await confirmation by randomized controlled clinical trials in patients with CKD-associated cachexia/wasting syndrome.