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. 2023 Mar 1;11(3):746.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11030746.

Positive Correlation between Relative Concentration of Spermine to Spermidine in Whole Blood and Skeletal Muscle Mass Index: A Possible Indicator of Sarcopenia and Prognosis of Hemodialysis Patients

Hidenori Sanayama  1 , Kiyonori Ito  2 , Susumu Ookawara  2 , Takeshi Uemura  3 , Sojiro Imai  4 , Satoshi Kiryu  4 , Miho Iguchi  4 , Yoshio Sakiyama  1 , Hitoshi Sugawara  5 , Yoshiyuki Morishita  2 , Kaoru Tabei  4 , Kazuei Igarashi  6 , Kuniyasu Soda  7   8
Affiliations

Positive Correlation between Relative Concentration of Spermine to Spermidine in Whole Blood and Skeletal Muscle Mass Index: A Possible Indicator of Sarcopenia and Prognosis of Hemodialysis Patients

Hidenori Sanayama et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Several mechanisms strictly regulate polyamine concentration, and blood polyamines are excreted in urine. This indicates polyamine accumulation in renal dysfunction, and studies have shown increased blood polyamine concentrations in patients with renal failure. Hemodialysis (HD) may compensate for polyamine excretion; however, little is known about polyamine excretion. We measured whole-blood polyamine levels in patients on HD and examined the relationship between polyamine concentrations and indicators associated with health status. Study participants were 59 hemodialysis patients (median age: 70.0 years) at Minami-Uonuma City Hospital and 26 healthy volunteers (median age: 44.5 years). Whole-blood spermidine levels were higher and spermine/spermidine ratio (SPM/SPD) was lower in hemodialysis patients. Hemodialysis showed SPD efflux into the dialysate; however, blood polyamine levels were not altered by hemodialysis and appeared to be minimally excreted. The skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), which was positively correlated with hand grip strength and serum albumin level, was positively correlated with SPM/SPD. Given that sarcopenia and low serum albumin levels are reported risk factors for poor prognosis in HD patients, whole blood SPM/SPD in hemodialysis patients may be a new indicator of the prognosis and health status of HD patients.

Keywords: hemodialysis; polyamine; sarcopenia; spermidine; spermine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A box and whisker plot and scatterplot of whole blood SPD, SPM, and SPM/SPD in dialysis patients and healthy participants. For each box, the interior line shows the median, and the edges of the box are the estimates of the first and third quartiles. The whiskers extend to the most extreme data points not considered outliers (1.5 times the interquartile range from the edges of the box). Black dots indicate the values for each patient. Left: Comparison of whole-blood SPD and SPM levels in dialysis patients and healthy participants. Right: Comparison of whole blood SPM/SPD between dialysis patients and healthy participants. SPD: Spermidine, SPM: Spermine, HD: hemodialysis, NS: not significant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box and whisker plot and scatter plot of whole-blood SPD, SPM, and SPM/SPD before and after hemodialysis. For each box, the interior line shows the median, and the edges of the box are the estimates of the first and third quartiles. The whiskers extend to the most extreme data points not considered outliers (1.5 times the interquartile range from the edges of the box). Black dots indicate the values for each patient. Left: SPD and SPM in whole blood before and after HD. Right: SPM/SPD in whole blood before and after HD. SPD: Spermidine, SPM: Spermine, HD: hemodialysis, NS: not significant.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SPM/SPD ratio positively correlated with the SMI and HGS. There was a significant positive correlation between the pre-dialysis whole-blood SPM/SPD ratio and SMI (left) and between the SPM/SPD ratio and HGS (right) in dialysis patients. The correlation coefficients (ρ) were calculated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. SPD: Spermidine, SPM: Spermine, SMI: Skeletal muscle mass index.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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