The ratios of human arginase activity to other biochemical parameters in the serum of pre- and post-hemodialysis patients as new clinical indices

Introduction: Prognosticators are indices which are used by medical specialists in early detection to make better decisions about treatment in hemodialysis patients. In this study the ratios of human arginase activity with other biochemical parameters in serum of pre- and post- dialysis patients were compared to healthy individuals. The ratios evaluated as new indices for diagnosis and treatment of the patients. Methods and Materials: In this study, 286 human serum specimens were evaluated, 206 of which belonged to the hemodialysis patients (103 of pre- and 103 of post- dialysis) and 80 to the healthy individuals. Arginase activity were determined by urea method, blood urea nitrogen by urease method, uric acid by modified Folin method, creatinine by Jaffe method and total protein was measured by biuret method.Results: The results showed that the serum arginase activity of hemodialysis patients (pre- and post- dialysis) was significantly higher than healthy subjects (p < 0.01). It might be concluded that hemodialysis of patients had no effect on their serum arginase. There were significant differences between ratio of serum arginase activity and blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and uric acid in hemodialysis patients (pre- and post- dialysis) with healthy individuals as well as pre- and post- hemolysis patients (p<0.01). There were no significant differences between arginase specific activity of the three groups (p>0.01).Conclusion: This investigation suggests that in parallel with other serum biochemical tests, it is beneficial to measure arginase activity and using the ratios of arginase activity to other biochemical serum parameters as new indices in prognosis and treatment of hemodialysis patients.