Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease are thought to be in a highly peroxidative state, based on studies showing decreased serum antioxidant activity and increased peroxidative products. In this study we confirm these findings by examining lipid peroxidation in subcutaneous fat tissue in uraemia.
Subjects and methods: Twenty-seven subcutaneous fat samples were taken from patients with end-stage renal disease when they underwent intervention for arteriovenous fistula for haemodialyis or for catheter insertion for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. The control samples were taken from 11 patients with normal renal function and without any history of renal disease who had surgical interventions. Lipid peroxides were measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substance.
Results: The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in subcutaneous fat tissue in the patients with end-stage renal disease is 1.223 +/- 0.636 nmol/mg fat tissue (mean +/- SD) whereas the level in the control group is 0.097 +/- 0.054 nmol/mg fat tissue. A comparison of the two groups by Student's t test revealed a highly significant difference (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: This study supports the finding of a severe peroxidative state in patients with end-stage renal disease.