Fibrinogen Modification and Fibrin Formation in Patients with an End-Stage Renal Disease Subjected to Peritoneal Dialysis

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M. Baralić¹, D. Robajac², A. Penezić², G. Miljuš², M. Šunderić², N. Gligorijević^2,a*, and O. Nedić²

¹Clinical Centre of Serbia, Department of Nephrology, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

²Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP), Department of Metabolism, University of Belgrade, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received April 30, 2020; Revised June 14, 2020; Accepted June 19, 2020

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End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a condition accompanied by increased inflammation, oxidative stress, risk of cardiovascular complications, and coagulopathies. The structure of fibrinogen and characteristics of fibrin from plasma samples of ESRD patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) was investigated. Fibrinogen from ESRD patients had a higher degree of carbonylation than fibrinogen from healthy individuals. The Aα chain was the most susceptible to oxidation, followed by the Bβ chain, whereas the γ-chain was the most resistant to oxidation. Spectrofluorimetric analysis suggested a higher extent of modification of amino acid side chains in fibrinogen from ESRD patients. The tertiary structure of fibrinogen was more affected than its secondary structure. The kinetics (time and rate) of fibrinogen coagulation did not differ between the tested groups. Fibrin prepared from the isolated fibrinogen had a similar structure in both groups. Our results confirm that oxidation and structural alterations of fibrinogen occur in ESRD patients on PD, although these modifications produce no direct effect on the fibrin formation. Taking into account that some patients suffer from bleeding, whereas others develop thrombotic complications, further research on this subject is required to identify other components and processes that contribute to the outcome.

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KEY WORDS: fibrinogen, oxidation, protein structure, coagulation

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297920080106

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