Serum prealbumin level as an indicator of nutrition status in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Serum prealbumin (PA) are often measured before or after hemodialysis (HD) session to assess the nutrition status in maintenance HD patients. In this study, we examined the influence of non-nutritional factors (hydration status and loss into dialysate) on the levels of PA. To exclude the influence of residual renal function, 20 patients who have received maintenance HD for more than 3 years were analyzed. A strong positive correlation was observed between post-PA and Ht-corrected prealburnin (c-PA) (r=0.948, p < 0.0001). Total amount of PA excretion in the whole dialysate was below detectable level. In conclusion, these results suggested that serum level of PA might be a useful marker of the nutrition status in maintenance HD patients.