Levels of serum colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) in patients on long-term haemodialysis

Abstract We measured the levels of colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF, M-CSF and GM-CSF) and several cytokines in paired sera obtained from 51 patients (33 males and 18 females; mean age: 53 years) on long-term haemodialysis (HD). The mean pre-HD G-CSF level was 22.7 ± 21.7 pg/ml and the post-HD level was 40.3 ± 54.4 pg/ml. The mean pre-HD M-CSF level was 2.4 times higher than normal at 1287 ± 380 U/ml, and it increased to 1644 ± 456 U/ml after HD ( r = 0.83), GM-CSF was not detectable in any of the serum samples. IL-1β was detectable in 38 pre-HD sera at a mean level of 57.1 ± 21.8 pg/ml, but was rarely detected after HD. TNF-α was not usually detected. When the CSF levels were divided by the product of the serum total protein concentration and body weight, the post-HD value for G-CSF was almost always greater than the pre-HD value and there was an improved pre-post correlation ( r = 0.69). In the transformed pairs of M-CSF level, the post-HD value did not differ much from the pre-HD value, and a strong pre-post correlation was noted ( r = 0.94). These results suggest that the serum G-CSF level is not affected by chronic renal failure, although HD may induce an increase of G-CSF. In the case of M-CSF, however, impaired renal metabolism and/or excretion may increase the serum concentration, but it is not modulated by haemodialysis. Additionally, the levels of M-CSF, IL-1β and TNF-α were not directly related to haematological parameters or to the G-CSF level.