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.
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