Serum myokine (myostatin and IGF-1) measurement as predictors in hemodialysis patients

Background Although individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis are a major sarcopenic population, there are few methods to assess their skeletal muscle mass conveniently. Here, we investigated the usefulness of serum myostatin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) measurements for the evaluation of skeletal muscle mass. Methods We examined 117 patients undergoing conventional hemodialysis. The serum myostatin level and IGF-1 level were measured once and compared to clinical parameters (especially skeletal muscle mass-related factors) in hemodialysis patients. Results The myostatin levels were positively correlated with body cell mass, arm muscle circumference, basal metabolic rate, creatinine, creatinine phosphokinase, and albumin and negatively correlated with body fat rate, arm circumference-arm muscle circumference, age, and C-reactive protein (CRP). The IGF-1 levels were positively correlated with body cell mass, body mass index, arm muscle circumference, arm circumference-arm muscle circumference, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, protein catabolism rate, transferrin, cholesterol, and triglyceride, and negatively with age and human atrial natriuretic polypeptide. Conclusions Our findings indicate that serum myostatin might be a useful biomarker for predicting muscle mass and serum IGF-1 might be a useful predictor of nutritional status in hemodialysis patients. Keywords: Hemodialysis, IGF-1, Muscle mass, Myostatin, Serum