Cytokines and hematological indices as potential markers of low cardiorespiratory fitness and sarcopenia in hemodialysis patients

AIMS: Patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (HD) are prone to low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), reduced muscle strength, and sarcopenia - conditions that predict poor outcomes but are challenging to assess routinely. This study aimed to identify plasma inflammatory cytokines and hematological parameters associated with physical fitness impairments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ) was defined as < 14 mL/kg/min; low HGS, low appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), and sarcopenia were defined per Asian Working Group criteria. Associations were analyzed using multivariate binary logistic regression and decision trees. RESULTS: (AUC = 0.803) and sarcopenia (AUC = 0.918). CONCLUSION: Elevated IL-10 was independently associated with low HGS - a novel finding - while IL-6 was associated with sarcopenia. RDW emerged as a potential CRF marker. These findings suggest that cytokine and hematological profiling may hold future value for early screening of physical fitness decline in HD patients, pending external validation.