Table 2.

Cohort characteristics

Parameter	Healthy	ESRD patients
Number	7	10
Age (mean ± SD)	46.4 ± 17.1	73.8 ± 10.2
Age range	22 – 75	52 – 85
Gender female/male	4/3	2/8
Months of hemodialysis (mean ± SD)	n.a	66.7 ± 81.6

		n (%)
Causes of renal failure
Diabetes mellitus	n.a	4 (40)
Arterial hypertension	n.a	1 (10)
Glomerulonephritis	n.a	2 (20)
Heart failure (cardiorenal syndrome)	n.a	1 (10)
Drug toxicity	n.a	1 (10)
Liver cirrhosis (hepatorenal syndrome)	n.a	1 (10)

		n (%)
Comorbidities
Diabetes mellitus	0 (0)	9 (90)
Arterial hypertension	0 (0)	10 (100)
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome	0 (0)	5 (50)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	0 (0)	2 (20)
Peripheral artery disease	0 (0)	2 (10)
Coronary heart disease	0 (0)	4 (10)
Heart failure	0 (0)	3 (10)
Rheumatoid arthritis	0 (0)	1 (10)
Liver cirrhosis	0 (0)	1 (10)

n.a. not applicable