Antitetanus toxoid antibody titer of chronic hemodialysis patients in Iran.

BACKGROUND Patients with end stage renal disease have higher incidence of infection diseases that is thought to be related to impaired immune system. OBJECTIVE To determine the antitetanus IgG antibody level in Iranian hemodialysis patients with end stage renal disease and to find its association with sex, age, blood hemoglobin, serum albumin, duration of dialysis, time of dialysis per week, dialysis adequacy, erythropoietin, or iron supplementation, body mass index (BMI) and underlying renal disorder. METHODS We conducted a cross sectional study on a total of 108 Iranian hemodialysis patients with end stage renal disorder, and 36 healthy individuals in the control group matched with the patient group. The patients and controls did not receive any antitetanus vaccine or immunoglobulins a year prior to the investigation. The serum antitetanus IgG antibody levels were measured by an ELISA method. RESULTS We found 74.3% of patients to have unprotected antitetanus IgG antibody level compared with 52.8% of the control group. Except hemodialysis duration, none of the contributing factors seemed to affect immunity. CONCLUSION We conclude that in our study, there is a significant difference in the antitetanus IgG antibody level between hemodialysis patients and the control group and also in the chronic hemodialysis patients.