Butyrylcholinesterase activity and mortality risk in hemodialysis patients: Comparison to hsCRP and albumin

ObjectiveTo test the prediction power of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity for mortality risk in hemodialysis patients during 12 months follow-up, and made comparison to hsCRP and albumin.Materials and methodsThe study enrolled 62 patients, aged 31–79 years. Serum BuChE, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and albumin were measured after 1, 3, 9 and 12 months of dialysis. The Kaplan–Meier survival curves were employed in mortality prediction.ResultsBuChE was positively associated with serum albumin (r = 0.318; p = 0.012) and inversely related to hsCRP (r = − 0.358; p = 0.004). The highest mortality was in the lowest quartile of basal albumin (< 38.4 g/L; p = 0.027), hsCRP concentrations > 8 mg/L (p = 0.005), and BuChE activity in the lowest tercile of basal values (< 5.92 kU/L; p = 0.0041).ConclusionOur results suggest that low BuChE activity may be a nonspecific risk factor for mortality in patients who are on hemodialysis.