The following is a summary of ‘’Plasma vaspin levels and clinical outcome in incident peritoneal dialysis patients,” published in the July 2023 issue of Nephrology by Than et al.

Vaspin, an adipokine regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, shows increased levels in chronic kidney disease but decreased levels in hemodialysis patients.

 Researchers performed a retrospective study to investigate plasma vaspin levels in patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD) and assess its prognostic role.

A total of 146 newly enrolled PD patients underwent measurements of baseline plasma vaspin levels, body anthropometry, insulin resistance profile, bioimpedance spectroscopy parameters, dialysis adequacy, and nutritional indices. The average age was 58.4 ± 11.8 years, in which 65.8% of patients were men, and 61.6% had diabetes.The median vaspin level was 0.18 ng/dL (interquartile range [IQR] 0.11 to 0.30 ng/dL). Plasma vaspin level had a modest correlation with the change in insulin resistance, as represented by the HOMA-IR index, in non-diabetic patients (r = -0.358, P= 0.048). The plasma vaspin level quartile was an independent predictor of patient survival after adjusting for confounding clinical factors in nondiabetic patients (adjusted hazard ratio 2.038, 95% CI 1.191–3.487, P= 0.009), while the result for diabetic patients was insignificant.

The study concluded plasma vaspin levels were significantly associated with survival in non-diabetic PD patients. Baseline vaspin levels modestly correlated with changes in insulin resistance, but further research is needed to understand its biological role.

Source: bmcnephrol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12882-023-03259-2