Purpose: End-stage renal disease; is a disease characterized by loss of renal function where inflammation is involved in its pathogenesis. Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory protein secreted from the adipose tissue. ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 are vascular adhesion molecules that play a role in regulation of inflammation. The aim of the present study is to investigate adiponectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 as clinical biomarkers of inflammation in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Materials and methods: The study groups were defined as; Group 1: (n=31) end-stage renal disease patients (eGFR<15) with hemodialysis; Group 2: (n=33), healthy subjects (eGFR≥90). We assessed serum adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 concentrations by ELISA methods. Chi-square test, students-t test, co-variance analysis, pearson correlation test were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Serum adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 levels were significantly higher in patients than the control group (p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001, respectively). Adiponectin was directly correlated with VCAM-1 (r=0.615, p<0.001) and ICAM-1 levels (r=0.476, p< 0.001). eGFR was inversely correlated with adiponectin (r=-0.637, p<0.001), ICAM-(r=-0.598, p<0.001), VCAM-1 levels (r=-0.846, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 concentrations were significantly increased in patients with end-stage renal disease. We observed that as the eGFR are decreased the adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 concentrations were increased. Elevated levels of adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 may result due to inflammatory response, impaired renal clearance and metabolic disturbance. We suggest that further studies including greater number of patients are necessary to confirm that adiponectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 can be used as biomarkers of inflammatory response in end-stage renal disease patients.