Abstract:

Objective To prospectively study the leverage of simvastatin on serum prohepcidin in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods We assigned 26 MHD patients equally into experiment group and control group. Patients in the experiment group took 20mg simvastatin orally per night for 8 weeks, and those in the control group treated without statins and any other lipid modulating drugs. Before and after experiment, serum prohepcidin, plasma IL-6, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, hemoglobin, albumin, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were determined. Results Of the 26 MHD patients before the experiment, serum prohepcidin was 173.6±52.7ng/ml. In the experiment group, serum prohepcidin was 156.7±51.9ng/ml before the treatment, and was 180.5±33.7ng/ml after the treatment for 8 weeks (P=0.127). In the control group, serum prohepcidin was 190.6±49.6ng/mL at the beginning, and was 193.5±36.0ng/ml after 8 weeks (P=0.728). In the experiment group after simvastatin treatment for 8 weeks, serum cholesterol and triglycerides decreased by 18.6% (P=0.004) and 55.1% (P= 0.007), respectively. In the 2 groups, plasma IL-6 and serum CRP, ferritin, hemoglobin, albumin, LDL and HDL remained unchanged. Conclusion Our preliminary study demonstrated that simvastatin 20mg per day did not change serum prohepcidin significantly in MHD patients.

Key words: Hepcidin, Simvastatin, Hemodialysis, CRP, IL-6