A Low Prognostic Nutritional Index Is a Risk Factor for High Peritoneal Transport Status in Patients Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis peritonitis due to Neisseria: clinicopathological features of 10 patients with a review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP) frequently arises as a complication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. However, the understanding of the role of Neisseria, a gram-negative coccus, in PDAP is limited.

METHODS

This study retrospectively analyzed data for patients with Neisseria-associated PDAP who were treated at our center from January 2010 to June 2022. These patients were classified into the Neisseria group (Group N) and matched 1:2 by sex, age, dialysis duration, and residual kidney Kt/V with a coagulase-negative staphylococci group (Group CNS) and a Staphylococcus aureus group (Group S) as controls. Statistical analysis was conducted via SPSS 25.0 and was supplemented with a review of the relevant literature, to investigate clinical features, pathways of infection, and patient outcomes.

RESULTS

This study included 10 cases of Neisseria-associated PDAP, comprising 6 male and 4 female patients. The patients had an average age of 58.10 ± 14.52 years, and the average duration of peritoneal dialysis was 72.00 ± 46.99 months. Among these patients, 3 had first-time infections, while 7 had a prior history of PDAP. After treatment, 9 patients achieved medical cure, and 1 patient was transferred to hemodialysis (HD). Baseline comparisons across the 3 groups indicated notable differences in body temperature upon admission, which were statistically significant (p < 0.05), with patients in Group S having higher body temperatures compared to Group N and Group CNS. Compared with Group N, Group S presented a markedly elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level, decreased serum albumin levels, reduced serum potassium levels, whereas Group CNS presented a significantly lower neutrophil percentage (N%) than did Group N (p < 0.05). Although survival analysis did not reveal statistically significant differences due to the limited sample size, Kaplan-Meier curves indicated a trend toward lower cure rates and slightly worse long-term outcomes in Group S than in Group N and Group CNS, with the latter 2 groups showing similar results.

CONCLUSION

Neisseria-associated PDAP generally has favorable outcomes, similar to those of CNS-related PDAP and better than those of S-related PDAP. Hypoalbuminemia, hypokalemia and elevated hs-CRP are key risk factors affecting outcomes, emphasizing the need to address them during treatment.

Enhanced prognostic value of a composite nutritional-inflammatory index (P-CONUT) for predicting mortality risk in patients initiating peritoneal dialysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Nutritional and inflammatory indicators are key to predicting outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This study evaluates the prognostic value of the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score, and a novel composite score, P-CONUT, which integrates both nutritional and inflammatory status, to improve risk prediction and management in PD patients.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 810 PD patients. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curves compared outcomes across groups, and log-rank tests assessed differences. Univariate and multivariate cox regression analyses identified independent mortality predictors. The prognostic performance of CONUT, PNI, and P-CONUT was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) and integrated AUC comparisons. Net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were used to assess the incremental value of P-CONUT over CONUT and PNI. Decision curve analysis (DCA) assessed the clinical utility of the models. A nomogram incorporating significant predictors was developed to aid in prognosis prediction.

RESULTS

Cox regression identified P-CONUT as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (G2 vs. G1: HR = 0.354, 95% CI: 0.238-0.528, p < 0.001; G3 vs. G1: HR = 0.385, 95% CI: 0.270-0.549, p < 0.001). P-CONUT demonstrated superior prognostic performance (AUC = 0.790, 95% CI: 0.751-0.829), with improvements over CONUT (AUC = 0.611, 95% CI: 0.561-0.661) and PNI (AUC = 0.636, 95% CI: 0.587-0.686). The NRI for P-CONUT over CONUT and PNI was 0.331 (95% CI: 0.156-0.408) and 0.357 (95% CI: 0.221-0.428), respectively. The IDI for P-CONUT compared to CONUT and PNI was 0.111 (95% CI: 0.011-0.145) and 0.112 (95% CI: 0.018-0.149), respectively. DCA demonstrated that P-CONUT provided a greater net benefit than both CONUT and PNI across a range of risk thresholds.

CONCLUSION

P-CONUT is a strong independent predictor of mortality in PD patients, outperforming both CONUT and PNI in prognostic accuracy. The composite P-CONUT score, integrating both nutritional and inflammatory status, provides superior predictive value, aiding in more precise risk stratification. This score, coupled with other significant prognostic factors, offers a reliable tool for improving the long-term management and clinical decision-making for PD patients.

Association between protein energy wasting and peritoneal membrane transport in peritoneal dialysis

Introduction

Background: fast peritoneal transport (FT) has been associated with peritoneal albumin loss and protein energy wasting (PEW); however, this relationship has not been fully studied. Aim: the aim of this study was to analyze the differences in nutritional parameters between fast-transport peritoneal membrane (FT-PET) and slow-transport peritoneal membrane (ST-PET), and analyze the association between FT-PET and PEW in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods: a cross-sectional study of patients on PD. Peritoneal transport characteristics were assessed using the peritoneal equilibration test (PET). Malnutrition inflammation score (MIS) was used for PEW identification. Clinical and biochemical characteristics between patients with and without PEW were assessed. Association between FT-PET status and PEW were evaluated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: a total of 143 patients were included. FT-PET group showed a higher prevalence of hypoalbuminemia, edema, lower phase angle, lower energy intake, and higher values of MIS score. FT-PET was significantly associated with PEW on univariate (OR: 3.5, 95 % CI: 1.56-7.83, p = 0.002) and multivariate models (OR: 2.6, 95 % CI: 1.02-6.6, p = 0.04). This association was maintained in patients where baseline PET was performed after initiating PD therapy (OR: 6.2, 95 % CI: 1.01-38.6, p = 0.04). Conclusion: FT-PET is associated with PEW evaluated by MIS score. Clinical trials to study nutritional interventions personalized to peritoneal-membrane transport characteristics should be designed.

Dyslipidemia in Peritoneal Dialysis: Implications for Peritoneal Membrane Function and Patient Outcomes

Dyslipidemia is a common metabolic complication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) and has traditionally been viewed primarily in terms of cardiovascular risk. Current guidelines do not recommend initiating lipid-lowering therapy in dialysis patients due to insufficient evidence of its benefits on cardiovascular mortality. However, the impact of dyslipidemia in PD patients may extend beyond cardiovascular concerns, influencing PD-related outcomes such as the peritoneal ultrafiltration rate, residual kidney function, PD technique survival, and overall mortality. This review challenges the traditional perspective by discussing dyslipidemia's potential role in PD-related complications, which may account for the observed link between dyslipidemia and increased all-cause mortality in PD patients. It explores the pathophysiology of dyslipidemia in PD, the molecular mechanisms linking dyslipidemia to peritoneal membrane dysfunction, and summarizes clinical evidence supporting this hypothesis. In addition, this paper examines the potential for therapeutic strategies to manage dyslipidemia to improve peritoneal membrane function and patient outcomes. The review calls for future research to investigate dyslipidemia as a potential contributor to peritoneal membrane dysfunction and to develop targeted interventions for PD patients.

The advanced lung cancer inflammation index is associated with mortality in peritoneal dialysis patients

BACKGROUND

There is still a very high morbidity and mortality rate for patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). The advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) has been demonstrated to be associated with the prognosis in multiple types of cancers. Like in cancer, systemic chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the distinguishing features of PD patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationships between the ALI and all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in PD patients.

METHODS

Patients who started PD at Shaoxing People's Hospital between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2020 (n = 277) were recruited and followed up until 1 July 2023. They were divided into high-ALI group and low-ALI group according to the median of ALI. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to assess the associations between the ALI and all-cause and CVD mortality. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to determine the predictive power of the ALI for all- cause and CVD mortality.

RESULTS

During the median follow-up of 40.50 months (interquartile range, 26.42-59.77 months), a total of 55 patients died, 31 of whom died due to CVD. Kaplan-Meier curves revealed that patients in the low-ALI group had significantly lower cumulative and cardiovascular cumulative survival rates than did those in the high-ALI group (all P < 0.001). After we corrected for confounders, the risk of all-cause and CVD mortality was significantly greater in the low-ALI group than in the high-ALI group [hazard ratio (HR) 1.944, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.068-3.540, P = 0.030, and HR 2.672, 95% CI 1.188-6.009, P = 0.017, respectively]. The predictive value of ALI (AUC = 0.708, 95% CI 0.630-0.786, P < 0.001) for all-cause mortality was superior to albumin (AUC = 0.644, 95% CI 0.556-0.726, P < 0.001), body mass index (AUC = 0.581, 95% CI 0.496-0.659, P = 0.069) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (AUC = 0.675, 95% CI 0.596-0.754, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

A lower ALI is an independent risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in PD patients. The ALI may be an effective indicator for predicting outcomes in PD patients.

Role of composite objective nutritional indexes in patients with chronic kidney disease

Malnutrition persists as one of the most severe symptoms in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) globally. It is a critical risk factor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in patients with CKD. Readily available objective indicators are used to calculate composite objective nutritional assessment indexes, including the geriatric nutritional risk index, prognostic nutritional index, and controlling nutritional status score. These indexes offer a straightforward and effective method for evaluating nutritional status and predicting clinical outcomes in patients with CKD. This review presents supporting evidence on the significance of composite nutritional indexes.

Body surface area and treatment failure in peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis

INTRODUCTION

This study mainly discussed the relationship between body surface area (BSA) and treatment failure of peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP).

METHODS

The exposures were BSA grouped by the tertiles of BSA levels. The association between BSA and the risk of treatment failure in PDAP, defined as the temporary or permanent switch to hemodialysis and kidney transplantation, was evaluated in Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

A total of 483 episodes in 285 patients were recorded in our center. As a three-level categorical variable, in reference to G3, the G1 of BSA displayed a 4.054-fold increased venture of treatment failure in a fully adjusted model. In sensitivity analysis, a lower value of BSA (G1) was identified as an independent risk factor for peritonitis episodes (odds ratio = 2.433, 95% confidence interval: 1.184-4.999, p = 0.015).

CONCLUSION

A lower level of body surface area was remarkably associated with a higher incidence of treatment failure among peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis episodes.