The Effect of Etanercept in Suppression of the Systemic Inflammatory Response in Hemodialysis Patients

Hemodialysis patients with end stage renal disease have a high mortality rate. In individual patients, mortality is associated with a low serum albumin concentration, a marker of poor nutritional status, and with elevated C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation. Since efforts to improve nutrition through dietary intake have not been successful, inflammation is thought to play a key role in determining nutritional status. Recently, it has been shown that malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis are closely related in patients with chronic renal failure. It is our hypothesis that suppression of the cycle of inflammation, malnutrition, and vascular injury caused by atherosclerosis will improve survival in dialysis patients. This study is designed to examine whether suppression of the inflammatory response can be accomplished safely with Etanercept and to determine if this suppression will improve nutritional status and clinical outcome in hemodialysis patients with poor nutritional status and evidence of inflammation.