Abstract: Objective To study the correlations between the plasma ghrelin level and cardiovascular function, prognosis in maintenance dialysis patients. Methods Measuring and comparing the level of fasting plasma ghrelin by ELISA in 30 peritoneal dialysis, 30 hemodialysis patients and 20 normal controls. Also exploring the correlations between the plasma ghrelin levels and the parameters from ultrasound cardiogram, pulse wave velocity. Comparing the level of plasma ghrelin between the group with and without cardiovascular disease, also between the survivors and the dead. Results The fasting plasma ghrelin levels in dialysis groups were much higher than that in controls(P＜0.0001). In dialysis groups the plasma ghrelin levels were positively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction(r=0.641,P＜0.01), and were not correlated with pulse wave velocity (PWV) (r=0.341, P=0.12). There was no difference in the levels of plasma ghrelin between subgroups with and without cardiovascular disease(P=0.516). So was between the survivors and the dead (P=0.43). Conclusions The fasting plasma ghrelin levels in dialysis groups were much higher than that in controls. The plasma ghrelin levels in dialysis patients were positively correlated with their cardiac systolic function whereas there were no significant relations between the plasma ghrelin levels and arterial stiffness, cardiovascular disease morbidity and prognosis.

Key words: Peritoneal dialysis, Hemodialysis, Cardiovascular disease, Pulse wave velocity, Prognosis