Malnutrition and inflammation in hemodialysis patients: Comparative evaluation of neutrophil reactive oxygen formation

•Impaired phagocytic function in hemodialysis (HD) patients is known.•Malnutrition inflammation score is a useful tool to risk stratify HD patients.•Impaired phagocytic function was observed in chronic HD patients.•Malnutrition and inflammation are associated with phagocytic function. Impaired phagocytic function has been established in uremic patients. Chemotaxis, particle ingestion, and free radical and metabolic activity were all found to be disturbed in dialysis patients. Malnutrition is common among hemodialysis (HD) patients, with an estimated prevalence of 40% to 70%. Malnutrition-Inflammation Score (MIS) appears to be a useful tool for risk stratification of chronic HD patients. We assessed the correlation between MIS and phagocyte function in HD patients. Forty-four chronic HD patients were enrolled from the dialysis unit. The patients were divided into two groups according to the MIS: 1 to 12 (normal-mild) and 13 to 30 (severely malnourished). Hydrogen peroxide release by polymorphonuclear leukocytes was evaluated using the dihydrorhodamine 123 method. Phagocytic activity of neutrophils was evaluated after stimulation with Escherichia coli bacteria and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) (positive control). Neutrophil oxidative activity in all HD patients versus healthy controls was significantly lower in median fluorescence intensity (MdFI)–E. coli and MdFI-PMA. We found significant correlations among MdFI-PMA and calculated MIS and other nutritional parameters in chronic HD patients. Impaired phagocytic function was identified in chronic HD patients. The severity of the impairment was associated with nutrition and inflammation parameters, as well as Malnutrition-Inflammation Score.