Clearance of pentosidine, an advanced glycation end product, by different modalities of renal replacement therapy.

We recently demonstrated that pentosidine, an advanced glycation end product, accumulates markedly as albumin-linked form (Palb) and in free-form (Pfree) in the plasma of patients with end-stage renal failure. The present study was undertaken to examine the clearance of Palb and Pfree by different modalities of renal replacement therapy, that is, hemodialysis (HD), continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and renal transplantation. HD cleared Pfree (9.4 +/- 4.3 nmol/kg/HD) but not Palb, by diffusion but not by membrane adsorption, whereas CAPD cleared both Palb (4.03 +/- 2.01 nmol/kg/day) and Pfree (2.43 +/- 1.24 nmol/kg/day). Plasma total pentosidine levels were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in CAPD (0.97 +/- 0.41 nmol/ml) than in HD (1.19 +/- 0.41 nmol/ml), as the result of a lower serum albumin level in the former patients. Indeed, Palb expressed per mg albumin was virtually identical in HD and CAPD. By contrast, Pfree was significantly lower in CAPD than in HD. Palb levels were significantly correlated with plasma Pfree levels in both HD and CAPD patients, but not in the CAPD dialysate. Pentosidine transport across the peritoneum occurs mainly by diffusion, both as Palb and Pfree. Interestingly, peritoneal Palb clearance (0.17 +/- 0.07 ml/min) significantly (P < 0.00001) exceeded albumin clearance (0.11 +/- 0.05 ml/min). Palb levels being significantly higher (P < 0.0005) in the peritoneal fluid (36.28 +/- 18.55 pmol/mg) than in the serum (27.12 +/- 11.71 pmol/mg), thus raises the possibility of a facilitated diffusion of Palb or an active transport mechanism for protein-linked pentosidine into the peritoneal cavity. After renal transplantation, plasma Pfree fell rapidly, remained barely detectable after one month, and returned to normal at six months. By contrast, Palb fell more slowly and remained significantly above normal at six months, but returned eventually to normal levels. These findings demonstrate that: (1) both HD and CAPD remove Pfree; (2) the peritoneal clearance of Palb, might contribute to the lower level of plasma pentosidine in CAPD than in HD patients; and (3) renal transplantation is the best therapeutic modality to normalize both Palb and Pfree levels.