Effects of protein leakage on online monitoring of ultraviolet absorbance in spent dialysate

Recently, dialysis dose during hemodialysis treatment has been monitored by measuring the concentration of urea-like solutes such as uric acid in spent dialysate using near-ultraviolet (UV) light. The measured absorbance has been shown to have a good correlation with the time course of urea level even if the absorbance does not result from urea. However, the spent dialysate includes various solutes such as uric acid and albumin as well as unknown solutes that also absorb UV light. The effects of these solutes on monitored absorbance values are not clear. In this study, we evaluated the effect of protein leakage on data from the UV monitoring of spent dialysate. Albumin leakage in the earlier stage of the treatment may result in an increase in absorbance greater than the expected value. As a result, there is a possibility that the dialysis dose is overestimated. On the other hand, the quantity of albumin leakage could be estimated by a spent dialysate monitoring technique combined with a protein removal process.