Aim: We investigated the parameters related to the progression of common carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) in hemodialysis (HD) patients.
Methods: IMT was examined in 85 patients by ultrasonography at baseline and after 12 months. The difference in IMT between these two time points was calculated (ΔIMT). We defined ΔIMT≤0.00 as ‘progression’, and ΔIMT0.00 as ‘stable’. Body fat distribution was calculated on computed tomography. Total adiponectin (T-Ad) and high molecular weight adiponectin (H-Ad) were measured by ELISA.
Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in all profiles except for the ratio of H-Ad to T-Ad (HMWR) at baseline. In the ‘progression’ group, IMT increased from 1.56±0.89 to 1.77±0.94 mm (p<0.001) and visceral fat area (60.3±30.7 to 69.2±37.5, cm²; p<0.01) increased. In the ‘stable’ group, HMWR increased from 31.3±5.4 to 37.6±7.3% (p<0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis selected ΔHMWR (p=0.031, odds ratio=0.928) independently of IMT progression. The correlation coefficient was -0.254 (p=0.019) between ΔIMT and ΔHMWR.
Conclusions: We found that an increase in HMWR was related to the stable state of IMT in HD patients.