Continuous Veno-venous Hemofiltration Increases In Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number In Severe Acute Pancreatitis

AIM: To evaluate the impact of continuous veno-venous hemofiltration(CVVH) treatment on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage and theprognosis of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods:51patients with SAP and26healthy volunteers were enrolled.The patients were divided into two groups according to CVVH treatment (27treated and24untreated). The mtDNA copy number in peripheral bloodmononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured by quantitative real-time PCR.The major clinical data was collected during hospitalization.Results: The mtDNA content in SAP patients was significantly lowerthan healthy controls (P <0.01), and was negatively correlated withAPACHE II score (r=-0.525, P <0.01). However，mtDNA content wassignificantly increased after CVVH (P <0.01), while there was notsignificantly variations in the non-CVVH SAP group.CONCLUSIONS: The lower mtDNA copy number in patients withSAP has a negative relationship with APACHE II score which used to evaluate the severity of patients. However，CVVH could improve themtDNA content，as well as APACHE II score and clinical symptoms. Thesedata suggest that the reduced mtDNA content may be a possible genomicbiomarker to estimate the clinical severity of SAP which could improve byCVVH.