Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Can
Charcoal Fight Heart Disease in Kidney
Patients?
Newswise — Charcoal may provide a new
approach to managing the high rate of heart
disease in patients with advanced kidney
disease, according to preliminary research
being presented at the American Society of
Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and
Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA.
Patients with advanced kidney disease have
high rates of atherosclerosis (“hardening of
the arteries”) and death from heart disease.
Oral activated charcoal—a product called
AST-120—has traditionally been used as an
emergency treatment for certain types of
poisoning. Recent studies have suggested
that AST-120 may exert beneficial effects in
kidney disease.
"We found that oral activated charcoal
lessens atherosclerotic lesions in
experimental mice with kidney damage,"
comments Valentina Kon, MD (Vanderbilt
University). "This is especially important
because there is no effective treatment to
reduce the high rate of cardiovascular
mortality in patients with end-stage renal
disease."
The researchers studied the effects of
AST-120 in mice genetically engineered to
develop atherosclerosis. The effects were
assessed in mice with different levels of
kidney mass.
In mice with profoundly reduced renal mass,
treatment with AST-120 led to a dramatic
decrease in atherosclerosis. This was so
even when charcoal treatment was delayed.
The improvement in atherosclerosis was
unrelated to changes in blood pressure or
cholesterol levels. Rather, the effect
appeared related to reduced inflammation in
the blood vessels.
In mice, oral activated charcoal appears to
reduce atherosclerosis associated with
kidney disease. The effect is present at
different levels of kidney function, in very
advanced atherosclerosis, and even when
treatment is delayed. More research is
needed to see if AST-120 offers similar
benefits in humans with kidney disease.
The research was supported by Kureha
Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Tokyo, which
makes AST-120.
... ..
...
...