Glycocalyx Barrier May Be Impaired In Kidney Failure.

MedWire  (11/5, Robertson) reports, "The glycocalyx barrier -- a mesh of proteoglycans and associated glycosaminoglycans present on vascular endothelium -- is impaired in patients with renal failure, probably contributing to their predisposition to endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease," according to research  published online Oct. 18 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. "Using a novel technique called Sidestream Darkfield imaging, the team compared microvascular glycocalyx dimensions in 17 individuals on peritoneal dialysis (PD), 23 on hemodialysis (HD), and 21 age- and gender-matched healthy control individuals." Researchers found that "the perfused diameter (DPerf) and perfused boundary region (PBR) were significantly increased in dialysis patients compared with controls, at medians of 17.7 versus 16.4 µm and 3.6 versus 3.3 µm, respectively." A "subgroup analysis of the dialysis patients showed that the DPerf and PBR were significantly increased in both PD and HD patients, compared with controls."