1. ¹Department of Nephrology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan
2. ²Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Koseinenkin Hospital, Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Japan
3. ³Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd, Osaka, Japan
4. ⁴Department of Cardiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan
5. ⁵Department of Nephrology, Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka, Japan

Correspondence: E Imai, Department of Nephrology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita 565-0871, Osaka, Japan. E-mail: imai@medone.med.osaka-u.ac.jp

Received 1 December 2004; Revised 17 June 2005; Accepted 14 July 2005; Published online 4 January 2006.

Abstract

Intradialytic hypotension is a most frequent complication of hemodialysis and may contribute to cardiovascular events and high mortality. There is a hypothesis that an increase in adenosine generation during hemodialysis may cause vasodilation and a decrease in cardiac output, which results in systemic hypotension. We studied whether this can be blocked by an adenosine A1 receptor antagonist. We investigated the effects of an A1 antagonist, FK352, injection in 30 chronic hemodialysis patients with frequent intradialytic hypotension by a prospective, multicenter, double-blind placebo-controlled study for 4 weeks after 4 weeks of the observation period. Intradialytic hypotension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 110 mmHg, with SBP drop of more than 30 mmHg from the predialysis level. The efficacy of FK352 was primarily assessed by the reduction rate of dialysis hypotension between the FK352 and placebo groups. Incidence of emergency treatments caused by hypotension was evaluated. FK352 (50 mg, intravenous) or an equivalent placebo was injected into the dialysis circuit 1 h after starting dialysis. Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored every 30 min during dialysis. FK352 significantly improved intradialytic hypotension (P=0.046), in that the reduction rates of intradialytic hypotension in the FK352 and placebo groups were -12.8% (Q1 (first quantile), Q3 (third quantile): -27.5, -1.7), and +8.3% (Q1, Q3: -16.6, +16.7), respectively. The frequency of discontinuation of dialysis was significantly reduced by FK352. No apparent side effects were observed from treatment with FK352. In conclusion, the A1 antagonist FK352 may offer a novel therapeutic option for chronic dialysis patients associated with intradialytic hypotension.