Background. Dialysis related amyloidosis (DRA) is a severe complication of the long-term dialysis treatment. (3zmicroglobulin and probably other factors influence the development of amyloid deposits. We investigated Some of these factors during hemodialysis session. Methods and Results. We investigated 20 patients undergoing regular hemodialysis treatment. Patients were divided finto AMYL group (with histologically proven DRA) and NE-AMYL group (without signs of DRA). Plasma levels of following factors were investigated using standard ELISA kits: serum amyloid A (SAA), interleukin-6 (IL-6), macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF). In addition plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and (3zmicroglobulin ((3zM) were investigated in the AMYL group. All these parameters were studied during different time periods of the hemodialysis session. Plasma levels of SAA and IL-6 did not increase during hemodialysis session and we did not řmd any difference in plasma levels of these factors between the group of patients with AMYL and NE-AMYL. Plasma levels of M-CSF increased during hemodialysis and its levels in AMYL group were signi%cantly higher in comparison with NE-AMYL group at the end of hemodialysis session (5345.10±340.42 vs. 3458.45±332.15 pg/ml, p=0.0011). A linear correlafion was found between plasma levels of SAA and CRP during hemodialysis whereas no correlation was found between plasma levels of (3zM and other factors. Conclusions. Our study suggests that plasma levels of M-CSF are increased in patients with chronic renal failure. Signi%cant increase of M-CSF levels in the AMYL group could lead to greater activation of monocyte-macrophage system and could serve as factor supporting amyloid deposition process.

        Key words: dialysis - related amyloidosis, serum amyloid A, macrophage - colony stimulating factor, interleukin-6, BETA 2 mikroglobulin.