High prevalence of ascorbate deficiency in an Australian peritoneal dialysis population

NEPHROLOGY 2008; 13, 17–22

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1797.2007.00857.x

Original Article

High prevalence of ascorbate deficiency in an Australian peritoneal dialysis population RICHARD SINGER, HELEN C RHODES, GEORGE CHIN, HEMANT KULKARNI and PAOLO FERRARI School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia and Department of Nephrology, Fremantle Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia SUMMARY: Background: An adequate total body pool of ascorbate is essential for optimum health in humans. Requirements for ascorbate are increased in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients most likely due to a combination of poor nutrition and increased dialysate losses. Methods: We measured serum ascorbate levels in 45 clinically stable PD patients to assess the prevalence of ascorbate insufficiency (level between 2 and 4 mg/L) and deficiency (level