Speciation of Arsenic in Serum, Urine, and Dialysate of Patients on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Renal replacement therapy is currently achieved by hemodialysis (HD), hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration (HDF), continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), or renal transplantation. The concentration of trace elements in serum of patients could be influenced by these treatments. A significant increase of As concentrations in serum of patients on HD treatment has been reported (1)(2). As concentrations higher than the reference value were also observed in serum of patients on HDF [3] . Although there are several studies describing the status of trace elements in serum, plasma, and dialysate in CAPD patients [4 , 5] , no data on As serum concentrations of CAPD patients are available. The aim of this work is to determine total As concentrations and to speciate As species in serum, urine, and dialysate of CAPD patients. Fourteen CAPD patients were studied. Serum, urine, and dialysate samples were collected from the University Hospital. Patients gave their informed consent before blood sampling. To decrease the influence of As intake from the diet, patients were requested to refrain from ingesting seafood during the 3 days before blood and urine collection. The reagents and apparatus for the separation and measurement of As species and for the measurement of total As have been described (6). Briefly, two types of HPLC columns were used for the separation of anionic and cationic As species: an anion exchange column (Supelcosil LC-SAX, 250 × 4.6 mm; Supelco, Bellefonte, PA) and a cation exchange column [Dionex (Sunnyvale, CA) Ionpac® CS 10, 250 × 4 mm]. A Perkin-Elmer (Norwalk, CT) 3030 atomic absorption spectrometer was used throughout for the detection of As signals. Analysis of serum creatinine was …