Dialysis-related genotoxicity: sister chromatid exchanges and DNA lesions in T and B lymphocytes of uremic patients. Genomic damage in patients on hemodiafiltration.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Patients with chronic renal failure show the presence of massive oxidative genome damage but the role played by dialysis is still a controversial issue. The aim of our study was to verify the genomic damage in B- and T-lymphocyte subpopulations of uremic patients after a single hemodiafiltration session. METHODS We enrolled 30 patients on maintenance acetate-free biofiltration and 25 age-matched healthy volunteers and studied chromosomal alterations. RESULTS Our data show that the basal levels of DNA damage, the number of sister chromatid exchanges and basal high-frequency cells levels are significantly higher in patients on hemodiafiltration than in controls and in T lymphocytes than in B cells. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that hemodialytic treatment could represent a potential source of damage, maybe through the oxidative action of the extracorporeal circuit components, which might explain the well-known T-specific immunodeficiency correlated with uremia.