Twelve Weeks of Pioglitazone Therapy Significantly Attenuates Dysmetabolism and Reduces Inflammation in Prevalent Peritoneal Dialysis Patients. A Randomized, Cross-over Trial.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of mortality in chronic kidney disease, including peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. While survival has not been shown to differ between peritoneal and hemodialysis, because of glucose uptake from the dialysate PD patients are more prone to dyslipidemia, insulin resistance (IR) and obesity. These metabolic disorders are substantially linked to the development of CVD and mortality in this patient population.

Hypertriglyceridemia, reported to be present in 70% of PD patients, is linked to both glucose uptake from the peritoneum and IRand promote vascular damage. Inflammation has been proposed to be a fundamental promoter of atherosclerosis and demonstrated a dose-response relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) and mortality . Adipocytokines, such as adiponectin，leptin and resistin, also play important roles in the development of dyslipidemia, IR, atherosclerosis, inflammation and CVD in PD patients. Therefore, therapies targeted at metabolic disorder are an important component of treatment for PD patients. Fibrates, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)-α agonist, can lower serum TG, however, its use in PD patients is limited by its limited efficacy and often-appeared adverse effects such as rhabdomyolysis and hepatic impairment. Nowadays, PPAR-γ agonist, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), represented by pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, exert their hypoglycemic properties through reduction of insulin resistance. For more than ten years, they have been used to control blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition, TZDs have also been noted to have beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and inflammation apart from their effects on glycogenic control. However, the study about TZDs in the treatment of metabolic disorder in PD patients, especially in nondiabetic subjects is very scarce and limited.

We, therefore set out to investigate the effect of TZDs, pioglitazone on hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, inflammation and adipokine dysmetabolism of PD patients, especially in nondiabetic patients.