Relative abundance of some free fatty acids in plasma of uremic patients: relationship between fatty acids, lipid parameters, and diseases.

The unesterified fatty acid patterns in plasma of predialytic (PHD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients were determined. The HD patients were divided into three groups: (1) HD without cardiovascular disease (HD-norm); (2) HD with cardiomyopathy (HD-CAD), and (3) HD with hyperlipidemia (HD-hyp). The relative abundance of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) was greater in the plasma of HD-norm and HD-CAD patients (73.3 and 70.0%, respectively) than that in controls (62.6%), and the relative abundance of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) was significantly greater in the plasma of HD-hyp patients than that in controls (38.9 vs. 21.6%, p < 0.01). In all HD patients the relative concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was lower than in controls. There were no significant differences in the fatty acid patterns of PHD patients. In conclusion, the relative abundance of SFAs and MUFAs in plasma of HD patients is associated with their concomitant lipid disorders and cardiomyopathy, while the low relative abundance of PUFAs was common in all HD patients.