Although polymorphonuclear (PMNL) glucose consumption as an index of metabolic response to phagocytosis in the production of free radical species is depressed in hemodialyzed patients, substantial interindividual differences are registered. Studies evaluating to what variables these differences are related are, however, lacking. In the present study, the relation of several factors to PMNL functional capacity in the breakdown of glucose to CO2 by the hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) is considered in an individual and multifactorial regression analysis. Starting from a database, collected in 126 stabilized hemodialysis patients, PMNL HMS-response to standard quantities of latex and zymosan was correlated to 14 numerical parameters: time since the start of dialysis, hematocrit, serum creatinine, phosphorus, ferritin, albumin, parathormone, albumin before and after administration of desferrioxamine, residual creatinine clearance, PCR, TACurea, Kt/V and age. In addition, the non-numeric parameters of sex, biocompatibility of dialyzers, and primary diagnosis were also considered. A significant correlation was found for time on dialysis (P < 0.001), hematocrit (P < 0.001), ferritin (P < 0.05), PTH (P < 0.001) and aluminum (P < 0.05). The highest correlation coefficients were found for time on dialysis (latex: N = 126, r = 0.50, P < 0.001; zymosan: N = 126, r = 0.58, P < 0.001). Multivariate correlation analysis of one clinical parameter together with time on dialysis to PMNL response showed that the correlation was strongly weakened or disappeared for ferritin, aluminum and PTH, but not for hematocrit. Our data indicate that time since the start of dialysis is an important, but not unique factor, influencing polymorphonuclear functional capacity in a hemodialysis population.