Protein Supplementation in Dialysis Patients

Poor nutritional status as evidenced by low body mass index, low muscle mass or low serum albumin is a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. Hypercatabolism induced by inflammation is widely considered the cause of uremic malnutrition even though there is no clear evidence that hemodialysis patients with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are at greater risk of losing weight or muscle mass. Conversely, there is little data on whether dialysis patients with malnutrition and elevated C-reactive protein levels would gain muscle mass with protein supplementation. The hypothesis is that protein supplementation during dialysis will improve muscle mass, functional status and quality of life in inflamed malnourished hemodialysis patients. Therefore, the objectives of the current proposal are to examine in malnourished (body mass index \ 3 mg/dL), the effects of protein supplementation on 1. Muscle mass as determined by creatinine kinetics 2. Functional status as assessed by 6 min walk 3. Quality of life as assessed by Short Form -12 survey