Effect of hemodialysis with acetate vs bicarbonate on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels in uremic patients.

A group of 18 stable hemodialysis patients were dialyzed alternately for 4 week periods against acetate or bicarbonate solutions. Total plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and the content of these lipids in the VLDL, LDL, and HDL lipoprotein fractions were not significantly different when these dialysis periods were compared. When patients were subgrouped according to whether they were normo or hypertriglyceridemic or whether they had an adequate or deficient lipolytic response to heparin infusion, there were also no differences apparent between the acetate vs. bicarbonate dialysis periods. The data indicates, therefore, that acetate is probably not a contributory factor to the hypertriglyceridemias observed in some chronic hemodialysis patients.