A low amount of red blood cells in the blood of patients with limited kidney function is a well known problem. Besides the lack of substances in the blood like iron or erythropoietin the shortened survival of red blood cells leads to the low red blood cell count. Red blood cells of patients on kidney replacement therapy (dialysis) die earlier than those of healthy persons. They live only about 70 days compared to 120 days in healthy humans. Today little is known about the causes for the shorter survival of the red blood cells in patients on dialysis. Because inflammation leads to a shorter life of the red blood cells in people suffering from several diseases leading to inflammation we would like to learn about the role of inflammation in the shortened life of red blood cells of dialysis patients.