Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common cause of end-stage kidney disease and a major risk of morbidity and mortality. It is not clear whether medical management of DM has any significant beneficial effect on clinical outcomes at the end-stage of diabetic nephropathy with full-blown micro- and macro-angiopathic complications. Both loss of kidney function and dialysis treatment interfere with glucose homeostasis and confound glycemic control. Given the unique nature of uremic milieu and dialysis therapy related alterations, there have been some debates about reliance on the conventional measures of glycemic control, in particular the clinical relevance of hemoglobin A1c and its recommended target range of <7 % in diabetic dialysis patients. Moreover, a so-called burnt-out diabetes phenomenon has been described, in that many diabetic dialysis patients experience frequent hypoglycemic episodes prompting cessation of their anti-diabetic therapies transiently or even permanently. By reviewing the recent literature we argue that the use of A1c for management of diabetic dialysis patients should be encouraged if appropriate target ranges specific for these patients (e.g. 6 to 8 %) are used. We also argue that “burnt-out diabetes” is a true biologic phenomenon and highly prevalent in dialysis patients with established history and end-stage diabetic nephropathy and explore the role of protein-energy wasting to this end. Similarly, the J- or U-shaped associations between A1c or blood glucose concentrations and mortality are likely biologically plausible phenomena that should be taken into consideration in the management of diabetic dialysis patients to avoid hypoglycemia and its fatal consequences in diabetic dialysis patients.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance
Kovesdy CP, Sharma K, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Glycemic control in diabetic CKD patients: where do we stand? Am J Kidney Dis. 2008;52:766–77.
Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Enter the dragon: a Chinese epidemic of chronic kidney disease? Lancet. 2012;379:783–5.
USRDS. Annual Data Report: Atlas of End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States. 2011. http://www.usrds.org/atlas.asps Accessed 10 April 2012.
Kalantar-Zadeh K, Derose SF, Nicholas S, et al. Burnt-out diabetes: impact of chronic kidney disease progression on the natural course of diabetes mellitus. J Ren Nutr. 2009;19:33–7.
Kovesdy CP, Park JC, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Glycemic control and burnt-out diabetes in ESRD. Semin Dial. 2010;23:148–56.
Fluckiger R, Harmon W, Meier W, et al. Hemoglobin carbamylation in uremia. N Engl J Med. 1981;304:823–7.
Kalantar-Zadeh K, Mehrotra R, Fouque D, Kopple JD. Metabolic acidosis and malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome in chronic renal failure. Semin Dial. 2004;17:445–65.
De Marchi S, Cecchin E, Camurri C, et al. Origin of glycosylated hemoglobin A1 in chronic renal failure. Int J Artif Organs. 1983;6:77–82.
Mirani M, Berra C, Finazzi S, et al. Inter-day glycemic variability assessed by continuous glucose monitoring in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes patients on hemodialysis. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2010;12:749–53.
Kazempour-Ardebili S, Lecamwasam VL, Dassanyake T, et al. Assessing glycemic control in maintenance hemodialysis patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2009;32:1137–42.
Riveline JP, Hadjadj S. Assessing glycemic control in maintenance hemodialysis patients with type 2 diabetes: response to Kazempour-Ardebili et al. Diabetes Care. 2009;32:e155–6. author reply.
Williams ME, Lacson Jr E, Teng M, et al. Hemodialyzed type I and type II diabetic patients in the US: Characteristics, glycemic control, and survival. Kidney Int. 2006;70:1503–9.
Shurraw S, Majumdar SR, Thadhani R, et al. Glycemic control and the risk of death in 1,484 patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis. Am J Kidney Dis. 2010;55:875–84.
Freedman BI, Andries L, Shihabi ZK, et al. Glycated albumin and risk of death and hospitalizations in diabetic dialysis patients. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2011;6:1635–43.
Peacock TP, Shihabi ZK, Bleyer AJ, et al. Comparison of glycated albumin and hemoglobin A(1c) levels in diabetic subjects on hemodialysis. Kidney Int. 2008;73:1062–8.
Kumeda Y, Inaba M, Shoji S, et al. Significant correlation of glycated albumin, but not glycated haemoglobin, with arterial stiffening in haemodialysis patients with type 2 diabetes. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008;69:556–61.
Inaba M, Okuno S, Kumeda Y, et al. Glycated albumin is a better glycemic indicator than glycated hemoglobin values in hemodialysis patients with diabetes: effect of anemia and erythropoietin injection. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2007;18:896–903.
Rubinow KB, Hirsch IB. Reexamining metrics for glucose control. JAMA. 2011;305:1132–3.
Selvin E, Steffes MW, Zhu H, et al. Glycated hemoglobin, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk in nondiabetic adults. N Engl J Med. 2010;362:800–11.
Wu MS, Yu CC, Yang CW, et al. Poor pre-dialysis glycaemic control is a predictor of mortality in type II diabetic patients on maintenance haemodialysis. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 1997;12:2105–10.
Morioka T, Emoto M, Tabata T, et al. Glycemic control is a predictor of survival for diabetic patients on hemodialysis. Diabetes Care. 2001;24:909–13.
Mcmurray SD, Johnson G, Davis S, Mcdougall K. Diabetes education and care management significantly improve patient outcomes in the dialysis unit. Am J Kidney Dis. 2002;40:566–75.
Oomichi T, Emoto M, Tabata T, et al. Impact of glycemic control on survival of diabetic patients on chronic regular hemodialysis: a 7-year observational study. Diabetes Care. 2006;29:1496–500.
• Kalantar-Zadeh K, Kopple JD, Regidor DL, et al. A1C and survival in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Diabetes Care. 2007;30:1049–55. This is a large study in which A1c is associated with mortality after adjusting possible confounders including demographics, comorbidities, anemia and nutrition. It also shows a significant prevalence of A1c level <6 % in HD patients.
Feldt-Rasmussen B. Is there a need to optimize glycemic control in hemodialyzed diabetic patients? Kidney Int. 2006;70:1392–4.
Williams ME, Lacson Jr E, Teng M, et al. Extremes of glycemic control (HbA1c) increase hospitalization risk in diabetic hemodialysis patients in the USA. Am J Nephrol. 2009;29:54–61.
• Williams ME, Lacson Jr E, Wang W, et al. Glycemic control and extended hemodialysis survival in patients with diabetes mellitus: comparative results of traditional and time-dependent cox model analyses. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010;5:1595–601. The authors supplements their previous observation, in which A1c did not related to mortality in dialysis patients, by extending follow-up to 3 years and using time-dependent survival models. They show only extremes of glycemia are associated with inferior survival, suggesting an aggressive glycemic control is not mandatory in this population.
Duong U, Mehrotra R, Molnar MZ, et al. Glycemic control and survival in peritoneal dialysis patients with diabetes mellitus. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2011;6:1041–8.
Molnar MZ, Huang E, Hoshino J, et al. Association of pretransplant glycemic control with posttransplant outcomes in diabetic kidney transplant recipients. Diabetes Care. 2011;34:2536–41.
• Ricks J, Molnar MZ, Kovesdy CP, et al. Glycemic control and cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis patients with diabetes: a 6-year cohort study. Diabetes. 2012;61:708–15. This is a very recent, large, nationally representative study. It demonstrates a J-shaped association between A1c (or glucose) and mortality. Of noteworthy about 40 % of HD patients have A1c levels <6 % linking to inferior survival.
Shurraw S, Hemmelgarn B, Lin M, et al. Association between glycemic control and adverse outcomes in people with diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease: a population-based cohort study. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171:1920–7.
Mak RH. Impact of end-stage renal disease and dialysis on glycemic control. Semin Dial. 2000;13:4–8.
Dzurik R, Spustova V, Lajdova I. Inhibition of glucose utilization in isolated rat soleus muscle by pseudouridine: implications for renal failure. Nephron. 1993;65:108–10.
Mccaleb ML, Izzo MS, Lockwood DH. Characterization and partial purification of a factor from uremic human serum that induces insulin resistance. J Clin Invest. 1985;75:391–6.
Schmitz O. Insulin-mediated glucose uptake in nondialyzed and dialyzed uremic insulin-dependent diabetic subjects. Diabetes. 1985;34:1152–9.
Friedman JE, Dohm GL, Elton CW, et al. Muscle insulin resistance in uremic humans: glucose transport, glucose transporters, and insulin receptors. Am J Physiol. 1991;261:E87–94.
Akmal M, Massry SG, Goldstein DA, et al. Role of parathyroid hormone in the glucose intolerance of chronic renal failure. J Clin Invest. 1985;75:1037–44.
Mak RH, Bettinelli A, Turner C, et al. The influence of hyperparathyroidism on glucose metabolism in uremia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1985;60:229–33.
Ikizler TA. Effects of glucose homeostasis on protein metabolism in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. J Ren Nutr. 2007;17:13–6.
Cusi K, Maezono K, Osman A, et al. Insulin resistance differentially affects the PI 3-kinase- and MAP kinase-mediated signaling in human muscle. J Clin Invest. 2000;105:311–20.
Lee SW, Dai G, Hu Z, et al. Regulation of muscle protein degradation: coordinated control of apoptotic and ubiquitin-proteasome systems by phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2004;15:1537–45.
Fouque D, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Kopple J, et al. A proposed nomenclature and diagnostic criteria for protein-energy wasting in acute and chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int. 2008;73:391–8.
Cano N. Bench-to-bedside review: glucose production from the kidney. Crit Care. 2002;6:317–21.
Arem R. Hypoglycemia associated with renal failure. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 1989;18:103–21.
Heaton A, Taylor R, Johnston DG, et al. Hepatic and peripheral insulin action in chronic renal failure before and during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Clin Sci (Lond). 1989;77:383–8.
Grodstein GP, Blumenkrantz MJ, Kopple JD, et al. Glucose absorption during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Kidney Int. 1981;19:564–7.
Mamoun AH, Anderstam B, Sodersten P, et al. Influence of peritoneal dialysis solutions with glucose and amino acids on ingestive behavior in rats. Kidney Int. 1996;49:1276–82.
Walls EK, Koopmans HS. Differential effects of intravenous glucose, amino acids, and lipid on daily food intake in rats. Am J Physiol. 1992;262:R225–234.
Von Baeyer H, Gahl GM, Riedinger H, et al. Adaptation of CAPD patients to the continuous peritoneal energy uptake. Kidney Int. 1983;23:29–34.
Sharma R, Rosner MH. Glucose in the dialysate: historical perspective and possible implications? Hemodial Int. 2008;12:221–6.
Gerstein HC, Miller ME, Byington RP, et al. Effects of intensive glucose lowering in type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:2545–59.
Patel A, Macmahon S, Chalmers J, et al. Intensive blood glucose control and vascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:2560–72.
Effect of intensive therapy on the microvascular complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus. JAMA. 2002; 287:2563–2569.
Fioretto P, Steffes MW, Sutherland DE, et al. Reversal of lesions of diabetic nephropathy after pancreas transplantation. N Engl J Med. 1998;339:69–75.
Kalantar-Zadeh K. A1c remains gold standard outcome predictor in diabetic dialysis patients. Diabetes Care, July 2012 doi:10.2337/dc12-0483.
Acknowledgments
The work is supported by K. Kalantar-Zadeh’s NIH (NIDDK) grants K24-DK091419, R0-DK078106 and R21-DK077341 and by a philanthropic grant from Mr. Harold Simmons. M.Z. Molnar received grants from the National Developmental Agency (KTIA-OTKA-EU 7KP-HUMAN-MB08-A-81231) from the Research and Technological Innovation Fund, and is recipient of the Hungarian Eötvös Scholarship (MÖB/77-2/2012).
Disclosure
Conflicts of interest: J. Park: none; P. Lertdumrongluk: none; M.Z. Molnar: none; C.P. Kovesdy: has been a consultant for Apotex; has received grant support from Abbott, Shire; receives royalties from UpToDate; and has received payment for development of educational presentations including service on speakers’ bureaus from Health Diagnostic Laboratories; K. Kalantar-Zadeh: has been a consultant for Abbott, Amgen, Genzyme, Shire, Vifor; has been an expert witness for law firms; has received grant support from NIH, NKF, Abbott, Shire; receives royalties from UpToDate; and has received payment for development of educational presentations including service on speakers’ bureaus from Abbott, Amgen, Genzyme, Otsuka, Shire.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Park, J., Lertdumrongluk, P., Molnar, M.Z. et al. Glycemic Control in Diabetic Dialysis Patients and the Burnt-Out Diabetes Phenomenon. Curr Diab Rep 12, 432–439 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-012-0286-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-012-0286-3