Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population

Age, years

66.0 ± 13.1

61.7 ± 13.0

65.3 ± 11.8

66.8 ± 14.1

70.2 ± 12.2

0.0010

Male, %

187 (62.8 %)

54 (73.0 %)

49 (65.3 %)

47 (62.7 %)

37 (50.0 %)

0.0340

Diabetes, %

144 (48.3 %)

39 (52.7 %)

38 (50.7 %)

34 (45.3 %)

33 (44.6 %)

0.7023

Cardiovascular disease, %

78 (26.2 %)

22 (29.7 %)

21 (28.0 %)

18 (24.0 %)

17 (23.0 %)

0.7555

Dialysis vintage, years

3.3 (1.2–6.7)

2.8 (1.1–5.6)

3.5 (1.1–8.1)

3.6 (1.1–7.6)

3.5 (1.3–6.8)

0.6318

Kt/V

1.4 ± 0.2

1.4 ± 0.2

1.4 ± 0.3

1.4 ± 0.2

1.4 ± 0.3

0.5231

Systolic BP, mmHg

153.1 ± 17.2

154.6 ± 17.6

149.4 ± 17.6

155.5 ± 17.2

153.0 ± 16.2

0.1354

Diastolic BP, mmHg

79.8 ± 11.5

82.6 ± 11.8

77.9 ± 11.1

80.6 ± 12.2

78.0 ± 10.4

0.0357

Pulse pleasure, mmHg

73.3 ± 13.1

72.0 ± 13.1

71.5 ± 13.2

74.9 ± 12.4

75.0 ± 13.5

0.2061

Body mass index, kg/m²

22.0 ± 3.5

23.0 ± 3.2

22.5 ± 3.7

21.8 ± 3.6

20.6 ± 2.9

0.0002

Albumin, g/dl

3.7 ± 0.3

3.7 ± 0.3

3.7 ± 0.3

3.6 ± 0.3

3.6 ± 0.4

0.2525

nPCR, g/kg/dl

0.8 ± 0.2

0.8 ± 0.2

0.9 ± 0.2

0.8 ± 0.2

0.8 ± 0.2

0.7969

CRP, mg/dl

0.8 ± 0.0

0.3 ± 0.7

0.3 ± 0.6

0.4 ± 0.8

0.5 ± 0.9

0.4315

Hemoglobin, g/dl

10.9 ± 1.0

11.1 ± 0.8

11.2 ± 0.8

10.7 ± 1.0

10.4 ± 1.1

<0.0001

Total cholesterol, mg/dl

150.6 ± 30.4

150.9 ± 29.7

151.7 ± 32.9

152.2 ± 32.9

147.6 ± 25.9

0.7929

Calcium (corrected), mg/dl

9.1 ± 0.6

9.1 ± 0.6

9.1 ± 0.6

9.2 ± 0.6

9.1 ± 0.5

0.2019

Phosphorus, mg/dl

4.9 ± 1.6

5.0 ± 1.4

5.4 ± 1.7

4.4 ± 1.6

4.7 ± 1.6

0.0014

Intact-PTH, pg/ml

94 (54–168)

109 (67–179)

102 (47–156)

75 (49–151)

110 (46–183)

0.2870

GNRI

96.3 ± 8.7

99.0 ± 8.1

97.6 ± 9.2

95.4 ± 8.6

93.3 ± 8.0

0.0003

Ferritin, ng/ml

63 (24–125)

56 (25–133)

65 (21–125)

44 (21–108)

72 (41–144)

0.0893

TSAT, %

21.6 ± 10.3

24.7 ± 9.5

22.5 ± 10.7

21.0 ± 10.2

18.3 ± 10.0

0.0016

ERI, IU/kg/week/Hb

8.2 (5.0–13.1)

3.6 (2.7–4.1)

6.2 (5.4–7.0)

10.7 (9.3–11.7)

17.5 (14.8–20.7)

<0.0001