Anemia Is Correlated with Malnutrition and Inflammation in Croatian Peritoneal Dialysis Patients: A Multicenter Nationwide Study

Malnutrition, inflammation, and anemia are common in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. In this study, correlations between Malnutrition Inflammation Score (MIS), laboratory and anthropometric parameters, and anemia indices in Croatian PD patients were analyzed. One hundred and one PD patients (males/females 54/47, age 58.71 ± 14.68 years, mean PD duration 21.82 ± 21.71 months) were included. Clinical, laboratory, and anthropometric parameters were measured. Statistically significant correlations between MIS and erythropoietin weekly dose per kg of body weight (ESA weekly dose), hemoglobin (Hb), and erythrocytes were found ( = 0.439, < 0.001; = -0.032, < 0.001; = -0.435, < 0.001), respectively. Also, statistically significant correlations were found between MIS and mean corpuscular volume ( = 0.344, < 0.001), iron ( = -0.229, = 0.021), and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) ( = -0.362, < 0.001), respectively. Furthermore, statistically significant correlations between ESA weekly dose and serum albumin level and body mass index (BMI) were found ( = -0.272, = 0.006; = -0.269, = 0.006), respectively. When we divided PD patients into 2 groups according Hb level (Hb ≥ 110 [ = 60, 59.41 %]) and Hb < 110 [ = 41, 40.59%]), statistically significant differences were found in MIS score (3.02 ± 2.54 vs 4.54 ± 3.54, = 0.014), C-reactive protein (CRP) (3.52 ± 6.36 vs 7.85 ± 7.96, = 0.005), and serum albumin level (44.22 ± 8.54 vs 39.94 ± 8.56, = 0.003), respectively. Our findings suggest that anemia is correlated with malnutrition and inflammation in Croatian PD patients. Further studies are needed to assess whether modulating inflammatory or nutritional processes can improve anemia management in PD patients.