The removal of serum hepcidin by different dialysis membranes.

PurposeHepcidin has been suspected to be associated with anemia of chronic disease, which is commonly observed in patients with maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). As almost of hepcidin is bounded to protein, it is essential to clarify which kind of dialysis membrane can remove it efficiently.MethodsEx vivo study: 50 mL of whole blood from healthy volunteers were circulated for 2 h in a microcircuit with mini-dialyzers (acrylonitrile-co-methallyl sulfonate (AN69) or polysulfone (PS)) without ultrafiltration. We measured hepcidin-25 levels at 0, 60, and 120 min in the blood samples. In vivo study: Blood samples were taken from 28 MHD patients at the start and end of HD sessions with PS or AN69. We measured serum levels of hepcidin 20, 22, and 25 by liquid chro-matography tandem mass spectrometry, and also measured serum levels of urea nitrogen (UN), P2microglobulin (MG).ResultsEx vivo study: Although serum hepcidin 25 levels increased after the ex vivo session with PS, they significantly decreased with AN69. I...