Ultrafiltration studies in vitro of serum aluminum in dialysis patients after deferoxamine chelation therapy.

Using gel filtration chromatography, we evaluated aluminum bound to albumin, transferrin, and other plasma proteins in the serum of patients on maintenance hemodialysis. The proportion of dialyzable aluminum, as determined by selective membrane ultrafiltration and flameless atomic absorption spectrometry, increased by more than fourfold on treatment with the metal chelator, deferoxamine. This ultrafiltration technique may prove useful for monitoring the proportion of aluminum mobilized during such therapy.