Serum lipids and prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events in hemodialysis patients

This article reviews the relationship between serum lipids and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in hemodialysis patients. Epidemiologic studies showed a cholesterol paradox in hemodialysis patients, but it can be solved by taking protein-energy wasting and inflammation into consideration. Wasting and inflammation are the risk factors of fatality after incident CVD. Randomized controlled trials showed neutral effects of statins and statin-ezetimibe combination on CVD outcomes in dialysis patients. Current guidelines in Japan recommend that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) be < 120 mg/dL, or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) be < 150 mg/dL as an alternative target in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), whereas Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) guidelines do not recommend any target lipid levels. In addition to "treat to target" and "fire and forget" guidelines, it is possible to recommend that lipid-lowering medication be initiated in certain subgroups of CKD patients. New directions of lipid research in CKD include cholesterol metabolism markers, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and modifications of lipoproteins.