WILL PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS CHANGE IN THE FUTURE? THE
IMPORTANCE OF DIALYSIS MEMBRANES AND TECHNIQUES
Dialysis membranes and techniques have dramatically
evolved. High-flux membranes tend to clear solutes more
rapidly and efficiently, in an attempt to reduce dialysis time.
Hemofiltration techniques, including hemodiafiltration (preor
postdilution) are designed to better remove middle
molecules. However, a number of nutrients such as amino
acids, vitamins, and trace elements may also be lost to a
greater extent with these recent highly efficient techniques,
and limited research is available to date to document this
question.
For example, a polysulfone superflux dialyzer has been
shown to induce an albumin loss of approximately 2.5 g per
session during standard hemodialysis condition. When this