Association between serum ferritin and lipid peroxidation in hemodialysis patients

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Iron supplementation is one of the recommendations found in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), however, an overload of this mineral can contribute to oxidative stress, a condition closely related to the cardiovascular risk in these patients, as well as disease progression. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether ferritin levels are associated with oxidative stress marker MDA in patients on hemodialysis (HD). METHODS: Twenty HD patients (55.0 ± 15.2 years, time of dialysis 76.5 ± 46.3 months, BMI 23.6 ± 3.0 kg/m2) were compared with 11 healthy subjects (50.9 ± 8.0 years, BMI 23.8 ± 1.9 kg/m2). Malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured by reaction with thiobarbituric acid and routine biochemical data were obtained from medical records. RESULTS: MDA levels were significantly higher in HD patients compared to the control group (13.2 ± 5.3 nmol/mL vs. 5.1 ± 2.7nmol/mL, p < 0.01). Twelve patients (60%) had ferritin values greater than the 500 ng/mL and there was a positive correlation between ferritin and MDA in HD (r = 0.66, p = 0.005, n = 17) patients. CONCLUSION: The excess iron stores in HD patients results in increased lipid peroxidation, and consequently contributes to increased oxidative stress in these patients.