After adjustment for age, sex, dialysis vintage, diabetes, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, iron supplementation dosage, rHuEPO dosage, serum triglycerides, serum albumin and prealbumin, the nine models’ multiple linear regression analyses showed that without the inclusion of serum albumin or prealbumin, higher levels of serum IGF-1 and serum IGF-1 ≥ 197.03 ng/ml were independently associated with higher hemoglobin levels. Here, TTR is linked to diabetes mellitus.