Objective To explore the levels of plasma complement factor H (CFH) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and its judging value for prognosis.

Methods Eighty-two PD patients followed up by the Department of Nephrology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University were included in the study. Patients were divided by the CFH levels based on immunoassay turbidimetric detection into low H factor group (< 320 μg/mL, n＝41) and high H factor group (> 320 μg/mL, n＝41), while 82 healthy individuals matched by gender and age were selected as the healthy control group. The correlation between plasma CFH and laboratory results, complications, and prognosis in PD patients was analyzed over a 3-year follow-up.

Results There were no differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, dialysis duration, urine output, and dialysis adequacy, whereas the plasma albumin, total protein and cholesterol were significantly lower in the low CFH group compared with the patients in the high CFH group (P < 0.05). During the 3-year follow-up, the incidence of peritonitis was significantly higher in the low CFH group than in the high CFH group (P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis further confirmed that low CFH level was an independent risk factor for the development of PD associated peritonitis (OR＝4.24, 95%CI 1.18-15.33).

Conclusions Reduced levels of plasma CFH in PD patients might suggest the increased risk of hypoalbuminemia and PD-associated peritonitis.