Introduction Visfatin is a recently identified adipo-cytokine, and is also known as PBEF (Pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor). PBEF is a growth factor for early-stage B cells. Visfatin is mainly produced by the visceral adipose tissue and is found in liver, muscle, bone marrow, lung, heart, placenta, kidney tissue and peripheral lymphocytes. 1 Even though it was initially suggested that visfatin activates the insulin receptor through competitive inhibition and that it has insulin-mimetic effects, the patho-phsyiological role of visfatin is not well understood. 2,3 Subsequent in-vivo and in-vitro studies have shown that visfatin is associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, endothelial dysfunction and increased inflammation. 4,5 In dialysis patients, dependent on the reduced renal clearance, an increase in adipo-cytokines, including visfatin, adiponectin, leptin, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha has been observed. 6,7 However, there are a limited number of studies on the visfatin levels of peritoneal dialysis patients and its related factors. Patients with renal failure are known to have insulin resistance. After the initiation of peritoneal dialysis, weight-gain is often observed. The weight-gain, 1179 J Pak Med Assoc Relationship between Visfatin and some clinical and biochemical parametres in peritoneal dialysis patients Yasemin Usul Soyoral, 1 Reha Erkoc, 2 Huseyin Begenik, 3 Mehmet Naci Aldemir, 4 Mehmet Emin Kucukoglu 5 Department of Internal Medicine, 1,3-5 University of Yuzuncu Yil, Van, Department of Nephrology, Bezmi Alem University, Istanbul, 2 Turkey. Corresponding Author: Reha Erkoc. Email: rehaerkoc@hotmail.com Abstract Objective: To characterise the relationship between visfatin levels and various clinical and biochemical parameters in peritoneal dialysis patients. Methods: The case-control study was conducted at the Medical Faculty Hospital, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey, between May 2007 and December 2008, and involving 41 patients on peritoneal dialysis, 20 haemodialysis patients and 20 healthy controls. Fasting visfatin level was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorpent assay (ELISA) method, and patients on peritoneal dialysis were separated into two groups according to the visfatin levels - high and low. The groups were compared in terms of some clinical (height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist/hip ratio, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the kt/V and CrCl (creatanine clearance) parameters which are indicative of the dialysis adequacy) and biochemical parameters (glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transminase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, total protein, albumin, globulin, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, ferritin, venous blood gas, parathyroid hormone and insulin). SPSS 15 was used for statistcal analysis. Results: No statistically significant difference in the visfatin levels was found between the patients and controls (7.71 ± 4.04, 7.36 ± 3.71, 7.70 ± 1.61, respectively, p = 0.63). The triglyceride level of the high- visfatin group was significantly higher than that of the low-visfatin group (243.8 ± 133.2, 150.8 ± 65.8, respectively, p<0.05). However, there was no correlation between visfatin and triglyceride levels. No difference in the other clinical and biochemical parametres was observed between the two groups of peritoneal dialysis patients. Conclusions: No significant difference in the serum visfatin levels of peritoneal dialysis patients compared to haemodialysis patients or healthy individuals was noticed. Further studies are needed to confirm the effect of visfatin on triglyceride levels, and, if confirmed, the mechanism of this relation. Keywords: Visfatin, Peritoneal dialysis, Haemodialysis. (JPMA 62: 1179; 2012) Original Article