Plasma fibronectin in normolipidaemic and hyperlipidaemic uraemic patients treated with haemodialysis

Abstract

Plasma fibronectin (PF) concentrations, were investigated in normolipidaemic and hyperlipidaemic (type IV) patients with chronic renal failure treated with hemodialysis (n = 29) and in controls (n = 34). Mean PF was significantly reduced in both subsets of dialysed patients. Among the hemodialysed patients the presence of hyperlipidaemia did not modify PF levels, which resulted, on the contrary, significantly higher in hyperlipidaemic controls as compared with the normolipidaemic group. In controls, according to a multivariate analysis model, PF was directly related with age and inversely with HDL-cholesterol. In the hemodialysed patients total cholesterol was the unique significant PF related variate, being this group, therefore, characterized by the lack of any inverse relation between PF and HDL-cholesterol. Finally, no PF modifications were observed in hemodialyzed patients affected by arterial hypertension or clinically evident atherosclerotic lesions.