Introduction: Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to physical stressors. It is common in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are on hemodialysis (HD). The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of frailty phenotype among HD patients and to evaluate their interrelationship with different biochemical markers. Methods: For the frailty assessment the Frailty Phenotype by Fried et al. was used, where frailty was reported if three of the following criteria were met: unintentional weight loss, self-reported exhaustion, weakness, slow walking speed and low physical activity. From 281 HD patients, 126 patients were frail, 58 were pre-frail (two criteria were met) and the rest of the study population were robust (97 patients). BMI was calculated for all patients and venous blood samples were taken to determine laboratory parameters for bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), phosphate (P), potassium (K), C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin. Results: Patients who were on HD longer than 60 months have more characters of frailty. (p=0.019). A statistically significant positive correlations between frailty score and BAP (rho = 0.189; p = 0.001), and CRP (rho = 0.233; p < 0.001) were observed, and significant negative correlations between frailty score and albumin (rho = - 0.218; p < 0.001) and K (rho = - 0.198; p = 0.001). Conclusions: The associations of frailty with markers of mineral bone disorder, inflammation and nutrition indicate the importance of these parameters in the indirect assessment of the frailty phenotype in HD patients.

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&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aim &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;To investigate total homocysteine (tHcy) serum concentration in patients with probable vascular dementia (VD) and in agematched controls, as well as to determine an association between tHcy serum concentration and cognitive impairment in patients with probable VD. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Serum concentration of tHcy was determined by the Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay on the AxSYM System. Cognitive impairment was tested by the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each subject included in the study. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Age, systolic, diastolic blood pressure and BMI did not differ significantly between the two groups. Mean serum tHcy concentration in the control group of subjects was 13.35 &amp;micro;mol/L, while in patients with probable VD it was significantly higher, 19.45 &amp;micro;mol/L (p=0.002). A negative but insignificant association between serum tHcy concentration and cognitive impairment in patients with probable VD was found. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Increased tHcy concentration in patients with probable VD suggests the possible independent role of Hcy in the pathogenesis of VD.&lt;/p&gt;

Background and Aims Some of the conditions which occur in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients with a high incidence resulting in a decline in their quality of life, include malnutrition, renal osteodystrophy, refractory hypertension and chronic systemic inflammation. In developing countries, due to the low level of economic development, low-flux dialysis is the main means of extracorporeal blood purification therapy. But it can hardly remove the middle and large molecule uremic toxins and protein-bound toxins; as a result, the patients suffer from long-term complications and poor quality of life. In this study, we attempted to investigate whether the combination of maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) with hemoperfusion (HP) could improve the clearance rate of middle and large molecule uremic toxins so as to improve their uremic complications. Method A total of 54 patients, who underwent routine hemodialysis, were assessed in this study. Those patients were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1 (27 patients) received combined treatment of HD with hemoperfusion (HP) in this regimen: HD 2 times a week with HD+HP once a week two times in a row, then after two weeks, and afterwards once a month as a maintenance treatment. Group 2 (27 patients) was only undergoing maintenance HD 3 times a week. The clinical and laboratory properties of both groups were followed up for 18 months, whereas the primary outcomes included normal clinical data, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH), phosphorus (P04), calcium (Ca), albumin, iron (Fe), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), hemoglobin, Epo doses and types of hypertensive drugs. Results At the end of the 18-month observation, the serum concentration of albumin, P04, hsCRP, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were lower with Group 1 than with Group 2 (p&lt;0.05). Whereas, higher levels of iPTH were noticed in group 1, but when the laboratory and clinical data are analysed of the group 1 alone a statistically significant lower values after the observational period are noticed especially in the serum values of iPTH (p&lt;0.05), P04 (p&lt;0.001), CRP (p&lt;0.011), SBP and DBP (p&lt;0.05). Conclusion HD+HP was superior to HD in regularly eliminating middle and large molecule uremic toxins accumulated in the body which is mostly shown through reducing the values of iPTH and hsCRP. These findings suggest a potential role for HD+HP in the treatment of inflammation and renal osteodystrophy as well, because lowering these values of iPTH leads to a normalization of other minerals which is expected and therefore leads to a stabilization of this long-term uremic complications, which can improve the overall general condition of the MHD patient.