title: Chronic hepatitis ameliorates anaemia in haemodialysis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Study for influence of chronic hepatitis (CH) on anaemia in haemodialysis (HD) patients remains inconclusive. We aim to characterize the red cell status between CH and hepatitis-free groups among the HD population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analysed 80 chronic HD patients from Taipei Medical University Hospital with monthly sampled biochemical study between December 2004 and December 2005. Data classified according to the hepatitis-free, chronic hepatitis B and C groups were expressed as mean +/- standard deviation. Student's t-test and anova were used to determine the mean difference for continuous variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age, Kt/V, systolic or diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol and triglyceride were not different between CH and hepatitis-free groups. HD duration (P = 0.0002), aspartate (P < 0.0001), alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.0001), alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.04), haemoglobin (P = 0.0066) and haematocrit (P = 0.002) were significantly more elevated in the CH group demanding less erythropoietin dose than in the hepatitis-free group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated that lessened anaemia was observed in CH, which demanded less erythropoietin dose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Taipei Medical University and Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Lung
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chi-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chieh-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: I-Chun
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: His-Hsien
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tzen-Wen
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006397:Hematinics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006397:Hematinics; D006454:Hemoglobins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004921:Erythropoietin; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase