Post-dialysis fatigue and serum S100B protein in patients on chronic hemodialysis. A pilot study

Background: Aim of the present study was to assess whether post-dialysis fatigue (PDF) may be related to pre- or post-dialysis levels of serum S100B protein. Hemodialysis patients (HD) who answered to be fatigued after their hemodialysis sessions when asked: “Do you feel worse after dialysis? if they answered yes” were considered to suffer from PDF. Serum Interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10), TNF-α and S100B were assessed by ELISA kit. Results: Thirty HD patients were studied: 22 (73.4%) reported to suffer from PDF. Serum S100B post-dialysis levels (median [IQR] = 17.4 μg [7.1 to 30.9]) were significantly higher than serum S100B pre-dialysis levels (median [IQR] = 5 μg [1.4 to 22.1]; p = 0.0001). S100B post-dialysis was significantly higher than S100B pre-dialysis either in patients with PDF or without PDF. Conclusions: Pre- and post-dialysis values of serum S100B and its delta did not differ significantly between patients with and without PDF and were not associated with the length of the TIRD in patients on chronic hemodialysis.