Stance.Methods Study PopulationThis was a cross-sectional study conducted in the HD unit of a regional hospital in Taiwan. We recruited 204 patients who hadObesity and PAD in HD Patientsreceived chronic HD treatment, 3 times a week for more than 3 months, with each session lasting for 4 h. Exclusion criteria included irregular or inadequate HD therapy with a mean Kt/V ,1.2 within 3 months before entry, inability to measure WC and ABI, and evidence of hypercatabolic disease. The WC cutoff points were based on those for the Chinese population [11]. This clinical study followed the GW0742 supplier Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee.Statistical AnalysisStatistical analyses were performed with SPSS/Windows Lation of prey plasmids from each colony, the obtained GPCR clones software (SPSS Science, v. 15.0, Chicago, IL). Each concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines was ln-transformed to improve its level of normality. Data were analyzed by the t-test or x2 test, depending on the nature of the variables. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was also performed to evaluate the relationship between the WC and various clinical factors. Consecutive logistic regression models (multivariate-adjusted) were constructed to confirm the independent association of AO and PAD.Laboratory MeasurementBiochemical and hematological parameters were obtained from midweek pre-dialysis blood samples. Venous blood samples were collected in the morning after an overnight fast. Plasma samples were separated from blood cells and stored at 270uC. For analysis, samples were centrifuged at 15006g at 4uC for 10 min. Kt/V was calculated using Daugirdas’ second formula [12]. Levels of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and insulin were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassays (Immulite 2000; DPC, Los Angeles, CA). Hemoglobin levels were measured by Sysmex XT-1800i (Sysmex America Inc., Mundelein, IL). Insulin sensitivity was quantified using the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) equation to measure fasting insulin and glucose levels (HOMA-IR = I63 G/ 22.5), where I is insulin (lU/mL) and G is glucose (mmol/L) (IR: HOMA-index 2.5 mU/mL6mmol/L) [13]. Fasting blood sugar, albumin, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were measured with an automated analyzer (Hitachi 7170, Tokyo, Japan). For hs-CRP, the intra-assay coefficient of variance was 8.7 , sensitivity was 0.1 mg/L, and upper limit of detection was 150 mg/L [14]. Expected values for healthy individuals were hs-CRP#3 mg/L [15]. Anti-HCV antibodies were measured using a third-generation enzyme immunoassay (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL). Serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were measured with highsensitivity interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, and adiponectin immunoassay kits. These measurements were based on a solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay with recombinant human IL-6 (normal range: 0.03?00 pg/mL; RayBiotech, Atlanta, GA), TNF-a (normal range: 0.48?00 pg/ mL; RayBiotech), and adiponectin (normal range: 0.48?00 pg/ mL; RayBiotech).ResultsThe mean age of the 204 participants was 63.4613.0 years, and 52.0 were women. All the patients had been on maintenance HD for a duration of 4.563.9 years. The mean WC was 90.667.3 cm in the group with AO (n = 93, 45.6 ) and 77.667.4 cm in the group without AO (n = 111, 54.4 ). Comparisons of the demographic and laboratory data for the patients with and without symptoms of AO are shown in Table 1. There were no statistical.Stance.Methods Study PopulationThis was a cross-sectional study conducted in the HD unit of a regional hospital in Taiwan. We recruited 204 patients who hadObesity and PAD in HD Patientsreceived chronic HD treatment, 3 times a week for more than 3 months, with each session lasting for 4 h. Exclusion criteria included irregular or inadequate HD therapy with a mean Kt/V ,1.2 within 3 months before entry, inability to measure WC and ABI, and evidence of hypercatabolic disease. The WC cutoff points were based on those for the Chinese population [11]. This clinical study followed the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee.Statistical AnalysisStatistical analyses were performed with SPSS/Windows software (SPSS Science, v. 15.0, Chicago, IL). Each concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines was ln-transformed to improve its level of normality. Data were analyzed by the t-test or x2 test, depending on the nature of the variables. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was also performed to evaluate the relationship between the WC and various clinical factors. Consecutive logistic regression models (multivariate-adjusted) were constructed to confirm the independent association of AO and PAD.Laboratory MeasurementBiochemical and hematological parameters were obtained from midweek pre-dialysis blood samples. Venous blood samples were collected in the morning after an overnight fast. Plasma samples were separated from blood cells and stored at 270uC. For analysis, samples were centrifuged at 15006g at 4uC for 10 min. Kt/V was calculated using Daugirdas’ second formula [12]. Levels of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and insulin were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassays (Immulite 2000; DPC, Los Angeles, CA). Hemoglobin levels were measured by Sysmex XT-1800i (Sysmex America Inc., Mundelein, IL). Insulin sensitivity was quantified using the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) equation to measure fasting insulin and glucose levels (HOMA-IR = I63 G/ 22.5), where I is insulin (lU/mL) and G is glucose (mmol/L) (IR: HOMA-index 2.5 mU/mL6mmol/L) [13]. Fasting blood sugar, albumin, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were measured with an automated analyzer (Hitachi 7170, Tokyo, Japan). For hs-CRP, the intra-assay coefficient of variance was 8.7 , sensitivity was 0.1 mg/L, and upper limit of detection was 150 mg/L [14]. Expected values for healthy individuals were hs-CRP#3 mg/L [15]. Anti-HCV antibodies were measured using a third-generation enzyme immunoassay (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL). Serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were measured with highsensitivity interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, and adiponectin immunoassay kits. These measurements were based on a solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay with recombinant human IL-6 (normal range: 0.03?00 pg/mL; RayBiotech, Atlanta, GA), TNF-a (normal range: 0.48?00 pg/ mL; RayBiotech), and adiponectin (normal range: 0.48?00 pg/ mL; RayBiotech).ResultsThe mean age of the 204 participants was 63.4613.0 years, and 52.0 were women. All the patients had been on maintenance HD for a duration of 4.563.9 years. The mean WC was 90.667.3 cm in the group with AO (n = 93, 45.6 ) and 77.667.4 cm in the group without AO (n = 111, 54.4 ). Comparisons of the demographic and laboratory data for the patients with and without symptoms of AO are shown in Table 1. There were no statistical.