Abstract
The effect of acetate and bicarbonate haemodialysis (HD) on the concentrations of erythrocyte, whole-blood and plasma total carnitine (TC), free carnitine (FC), short- (SC) and long-chain acylcarnitine (LC) and acylcarnitine (AC) as well as the ratio of AC to FC was investigated in 30 healthy subjects (15 men and 15 women) and 27 patients (10 men and 17 women) with chronic pyelonephritis (CPN) undergoing chronic HD. Fourteen patients (5 men and 9 women) used acetate HD and the remainder (5 men and 8 women) used bicarbonate HD. The mean predialysis erythrocyte, whole-blood and plasma concentrations of TC, FC, SC, LC and AC as well as the ratio of AC to FC were not significantly different from those in healthy controls (P > 0·05). However, after acetate or bicarbonate HD, a significant decrease in erythrocyte, whole-blood and plasma concentrations of TC, FC, SC, LC and AC were found, compared with either predialysis or healthy control values (P < 0·001). Furthermore, the ratio of AC to FC was significantly higher following acetate HD as compared with either acetate or bicarbonate predialysis values (P < 0·001). The observed variations in response between acetate and bicarbonate HD may be due to enhanced formation of acetyl-coenzyme A and fatty acid synthesis during acetate HD.