Table 1.
Summary of clinical characteristics.
| Exploration cohort | Validation cohort | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GR | PR | P-value | GR | PR | P-value | |
| No. of patient | 34 | 31 | 10 | 16 | ||
| Age, y | 59.1 ± 11.8 | 54.8 ± 14.6 | 0.191 | 59.7 ± 12.9 | 59.6 ± 12.3 | 0.979 |
| Sex (F/M) | 16/18 | 14/17 | 0.878 | 4/6 | 6/10 | 0.899 |
| EPO treatment age, y | 5.9 ± 2.1 | 6.0 ± 2.1 | 0.915 | 5.7 ± 2.6 | 5.4 ± 1.7 | 0.702 |
| Cause of kidney failure | ||||||
| Diabetic nephropathy | 13 | 11 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Glomerulonephritis | 15 | 16 | 5 | 8 | ||
| others | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | ||
| RRF (ml/min per 1.73 m²) | 5.4 ± 3.9 | 6.0 ± 4.5 | 0.589 | 6.3 ± 6.4 | 4.7 ± 3.2 | 0.981 |
| BMI | 22.5 ± 2.4 | 23.0 ± 3.2 | 0.549 | 21.3 ± 3.2 | 23.4 ± 3.3 | 0.115 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dl) | 117.5 ± 5.4 | 99.0 ± 9.0 | <0.001 | 120.3 ± 2.9 | 102.6 ±5.4 | <0.001 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 34.1 ± 3.9 | 33.9 ± 4.0 | 0.840 | 34.4 ± 3.4 | 34.6 ± 3.1 | 0.881 |
| CRP (mg/l) | 2.0 ± 2.3 | 3.1 ± 2.4 | 0.059 | 2.2 ± 1.9 | 2.4 ± 1.6 | 0.741 |
| EPO (ng/l) | 464.7 ± 150.5 | 468.5 ± 154.5 | 0.919 | 471.4 ± 182.7 | 481.9 ± 141.9 | 0.869 |
| EPO-Ab (ng/l) | 129.5 ± 39.8 | 146.9 ± 43.0 | 0.097 | 137.4 ± 25.6 | 154.5 ± 50.0 | 0.328 |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) | 394.5 ± 136.9 | 377.3 ± 95.2 | 0.561 | 371.0 ± 85.9 | 430.1 ± 101.0 | 0.137 |
| TSAT (%) | 32.5 ± 14.6 | 37.0 ± 22.3 | 0.328 | 25.9 ± 11.7 | 27.9 ± 13.1 | 0.704 |
| KT/V | 1.29 ± 0.2 | 1.2 ± 0.2 | 0.143 | 1.2 ± 0.1 | 1.2 ± 0.1 | 0.531 |
| Albumin g/l | 42.2 ± 1.6 | 41.7 ± 1.2 | 0.182 | 42.0 ± 1.6 | 41.1 ± 1.0 | 0.073 |
| iPTH (pg/mL) | 278.5 ± 248.6 | 381.0 ± 243.1 | 0.098 | 278.3 ± 171.2 | 309.5 ± 205.6 | 0.692 |
| Vitamin B12 | 657.2 ± 213.3 | 564.8 ± 255.5 | 0.117 | 586.9 ± 171.2 | 519.9 ± 124.9 | 0.386 |
| Folate | 7.0 ± 3.1 | 6.1 ± 3.0 | 0.297 | 6.6 ± 2.5 | 6.4 ± 2.6 | 0.923 |
Gender distribution was analyzed by χ2 test, and other indices were analyzed by Student’s t-test. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation according to the normality of distribution. The hemoglobin level is the 3-month average. GR, good response; PR, poor response. KT/V (clearance of urea multiplied by dialysis duration and normalized for urea distribution volume) was proposed as a parameter of dialysis adequacy.