Correlation Between Autophagy-related Proteins and Inflammatory Markers in Hemodialysis Patients

One recent study demonstrated impaired autophagy in patients receiving hemodialysis (HD). To clarify whether this alteration is related to the inflammatory state in HD patients, we focused on basal autophagy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HD patients with and without inflammation and controls. PBMCs were harvested using Ficoll density gradient centrifugation . Levels of the autophagy-associated proteins ubiquitin-binding protein p62 (p62), microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3A (LC3I/II) and beclin-1 in PBMCs will be detected by western blotting. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits will be used to detect the serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, liposaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α.