♦ Objectives: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is one of the firstline modalities of renal replacement therapy in patients with end-stage renal disease. Guidelines recommended a break-in period of at least 2 weeks before full PD start. However, the optimal duration of the break-in period is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effect of various break-in periods on short-term outcomes in patients on PD.

Recent study demonstrated that calcium phosphate (CaP) crystals isolated from high phosphate medium were a key contributor to arterial calcification. The present study further investigated the effects of CaP crystals induced by uremic serum on calcification of human aortic smooth muscle cells. This may provide a new insight for the development of uremic cardiovascular calcification. We tested the effects of uremic serum or normal serum on cell calcification. Calcification was visualized by staining and calcium deposition quantified. Expression of various bone-calcifying genes was detected by real-time PCR, and protein levels were quantified by western blotting or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Pyrophosphate was used to investigate the effects of CaP crystals' inhibition. Finally, CaP crystals were separated from uremic serum to determine its specific pro-calcification effects. Uremic serum incubation resulted in progressively increased calcification staining and increased calcium deposition in HASMCs after 4, 8 and 12 days (P vs 0 day <0.001 for all). Compared to cells incubated in control serum, uremic serum significantly induced the mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic factor-2, osteopontin and RUNX2, and increased their protein levels as well (P < 0.05 for all). Inhibition of CaP crystals with pyrophosphate incubation prevented calcium deposition and bone-calcifying gene over-expression increased by uremic serum. CaP crystals, rather than the rest of uremic serum, were responsible for these effects. Uremic serum accelerates arterial calcification by mediating osteogenic differentiation. This effect might be mainly attributed to the CaP crystal content.