Plasma Mitochondrial DNA Clearance by Continuous Venovenous Haemofiltration in Critically Ill Patients

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) reportedly has diagnostic and predictive value in critically ill patients. This study evaluated the diagnostic and predictive value of mtDNA in patients undergoing continuous venovenous haemofiltration (CVVH). We consecutively enrolled 41 patients who were treated with CVVH from September 2018 to December 2019. Prefilter, postfilter, and ultrafiltrate samples were collected before the initiation of CVVH (T0) and 6 and 12 h after CVVH. The total mass removal rate (Mtr), total mass adsorption rate (Mad), plasma clearance (PC), and sieving coefficient (SC) were calculated based on the mass conservation principle. The plasma mtDNA concentration in patients at T0 prefilter was higher than that in healthy volunteers [13.77 (12.45–15.86) vs. 1.24 (1.15–1.34) ng/mL, P < 0.001]. Prefilter, but not postfilter or ultrafiltrate, mtDNA decreased during CVVH (P = 0.02), with a total CVVH clearance of 25.9