Serum levels of the adipokine chemerin in relation to renal function.

Objective: To investigate serum levels of the adipokine chemerin in patients on chronic hemodialysis (CD) as compared with control patients with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >50 ml/min.

Methods: Chemerin was quantified by ELISA in control patients (n = 60) and CD patients (n = 60) and correlated with clinical and biochemical measures of renal function, glucose, and lipid metabolism, as well as inflammation, in both groups.

Results: Median serum chemerin levels were more than twofold higher in CD patients (542.2 microg/l) compared with subjects with a GFR >50 ml/min (254.3 microg/l) (P < 0.001). Furthermore, GFR, as assessed by the original Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula, independently predicted circulating chemerin concentrations in multiple regression analyses in both control patients (P < 0.05) and CD patients (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: We demonstrate that markers of renal function are independently related to circulating chemerin levels.