Oral adsorbent AST-120 potentiates the effect of erythropoietin-stimulating agents on Stage 5 chronic kidney disease patients: a randomized crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Indoxyl sulfate (IS) suppresses erythropoietin (EPO) activity and exerts renal damage. The oral adsorbent AST-120 reduces IS load and has antioxidant and renoprotective properties; however, its roles in the treatment of anemia remain unclear in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. METHODS: Fifty-one Stage 5 predialysis CKD patients with hemoglobin <10 g/dL were randomly assigned to receive two period treatments with AST-120 plus once-monthly administration of continuous EPO receptor activator (CERA, A) and CERA alone (B), with a 4-week washout period in between. Mean changes of serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and hemoglobin levels from the baseline were compared between two treatments. RESULTS: The baseline and postintervention mean creatinine levels were 5.48 and 5.36 mg/dL in the Treatment A, and 5.14 mg/dL and 5.61 g/dL in the Treatment B group, respectively (treatment effect P = 0.025, period effect P = 0.467, carryover effect P = 0.384). The baseline and postintervention mean hemoglobin levels were 9.27 and 10.47 g/dL in the Treatment A, and 9.63 g/dL and 9.54 g/dL in the Treatment B group, respectively (treatment effect P = 0.039, period effect P = 0.001, carryover effect P = 0.060). Use of AST-120 significantly reduced IS and p-cresyl sulfate (PCS) levels. Hierarchical regression showed that eGFR was an independent predictor for hemoglobin after adjustment of serum free IS and PCS levels (B = 0.049, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Use of adjuvant AST-120 may improve renal function and hemoglobin levels than use of CERA alone in late-stage CKD patients. The change of eGFR might play an intermediate role between serum IS/PCS and improve hemoglobin levels. The finding offered insight into novel therapeutic strategies of anemia for late-stage CKD patients.

Multidisciplinary predialysis education reduced the inpatient and total medical costs of the first 6 months of dialysis in incident hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: The multidisciplinary pre-dialysis education (MPE) retards renal progression, reduce incidence of dialysis and mortality of CKD patients. However, the financial benefit of this intervention on patients starting hemodialysis has not yet been evaluated in prospective and randomized trial. METHODS: We studied the medical expenditure and utilization incurred in the first 6 months of dialysis initiation in 425 incident hemodialysis patients who were randomized into MPE and non-MPE groups before reaching end-stage renal disease. The content of the MPE was standardized in accordance with the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative guidelines. RESULTS: The mean age of study patients was 63.8±13.2 years, and 221 (49.7%) of them were men. The mean serum creatinine level and estimated glomerular filtration rate was 6.1±4.0 mg/dL and 7.6±2.9 mL⋅min(-1)⋅1.73 m(-2), respectively, at dialysis initiation. MPE patients tended to have lower total medical cost in the first 6 months after hemodialysis initiation (9147.6±0.1 USD/patient vs. 11190.6±0.1 USD/patient, p = 0.003), fewer in numbers [0 (1) vs. 1 (2), p<0.001] and length of hospitalization [0 (15) vs. 8 (27) days, p<0.001], and also lower inpatient cost [0 (2617.4) vs. 1559,4 (5019.6) USD/patient, p<0.001] than non-MPE patients, principally owing to reduced cardiovascular hospitalization and vascular access-related surgeries. The decreased inpatient and total medical cost associated with MPE were independent of patients' demographic characteristics, concomitant disease, baseline biochemistry and use of double-lumen catheter at initiation of hemodialysis. CONCLUSIONS: Participation of multidisciplinary education in pre-dialysis period was independently associated with reduction in the inpatient and total medical expenditures of the first 6 months post-dialysis owing to decreased inpatient service utilization secondary to cardiovascular causes and vascular access-related surgeries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00644046.