ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of red blood cell parameters in patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD) at stages 3-5 with the data from Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine.

MethodsOne hundred and twenty cases with CKD in each stage were collected. The red blood cell parameters including red blood cell count(RBC), hematocrit(HCT), hemoglobin(Hb), mean corpuscular volume(MCV), mean corpsular hemoglobin(MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration(MCHC) and red cell distribution width(RDW) were obtained from sysmexXE-5000 automatic hematology analyzer.

ResultsThere was no significant difference in the age of patients with different genders or different courses of the disease(P>0.05). Regardless of gender, the age of patients with different course of disease was statistically significant(P < 0.05). The MCHC of male patients in all stages of CKD was higher than that of female patients(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01. The RBC, Hb and HCT of male patients were higher than those of female patients in CKD stage 3 and 4(P < 0.01), but there was no statistically significance in stage 5(P>0.05). RDW had no statistical difference between stage 3 and 4(P>0.05), but it was higher that in female patients than infe male patients in stages 5(P < 0.05). There was no significant gender difference in MCV and MCH in each stage of CKD(P>0.05). Hb and HCT decreased with the disease progression(P < 0.01), while RDW was just the opposite(P < 0.01). MCV and MCH decreased in female patients as clinical stages increased(P < 0.01), but they had no significant difference in male patients(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the MCHC between male and female patients(P>0.05).

ConclusionsThe changes of RBC, Hb and HCT are closely related to the development of CKD. The ranges of red blood cell parameters established based on their characteristics can provide the reference for clinicians to evaluate the condition of the patients with CKD.