The α-tocopherol may be a potent protective agent in combating MSG-induced renal toxicity.

No abstract

Arsenic trioxide (AsO) is a highly effective therapeutic against acute promyelocytic leukaemia, but its clinical efficacy is burdened by serious cardiac toxicity. The present study was performed to evaluate the effect of omega (ω)-3 fatty acid on AsO-induced cardiac toxicity in in vivo and in vitro settings. In in vivo experiments, male Wistar rats were orally administered with AsO 4 mg/kg body weight for a period of 45 days and cardiotoxicity was assessed. AsO significantly increased the tissue arsenic deposition, micronuclei frequency and creatine kinase (CK)-MB activity. There were a rise in lipid peroxidation and a decline in reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase and catalase in heart tissue of arsenic-administered rats. The cardioprotective role of ω-3 fatty acid was assessed by combination treatment with AsO. ω-3 fatty acid co-administration with AsO significantly alleviated these changes. In in vitro study using H9c2 cardiomyocytes, AsO treatment induced alterations in cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, lipid peroxidation, cellular calcium levels and mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψ). ω-3 fatty acid co-treatment significantly increased cardiomyocyte viability, reduced LDH release, lipid peroxidation and intracellular calcium concentration and improved the ∆Ψ. These findings suggested that the ω-3 fatty acid has the potential to protect against AsO-induced cardiotoxicity.

No abstract

While vascular ultrasound (US) has been highlighted to detect vascular access stenosis, its accuracy in the identification of inflow stenosis (IS) (anastomosis and/or juxta-anastomotic area) compared with the gold standard (angiography) has not been evaluated. One hundred three consecutive fistulae referred for interventions were included in this study. Preprocedure US of inflow segment was performed. Angiography from the feeding artery to the right atrium was then conducted. US comparison to angiography in the detection of IS (anastomosis and/or juxta-anastomotic area) was evaluated. Additionally, comparison of US to angiography in the assessment of juxta-anastomotic and anastomotic stenosis was reported separately. Data from 103 patients were available for analysis. Overall, US was negative for IS in 52 cases. Of these, 47 did not show a lesion on angiography. Only five cases demonstrated a stenosis on angiography. Fifty-one cases had IS by US, 50 were confirmed by angiography while one case did not show a lesion on angiography. Consequently, US had a sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 98%, and positive and negative predictive values were 98% and 90%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, negative, and positive predictive values for juxta-anastomotic and anastomotic lesions evaluated separately were 92%, 98%, 92%, 98% and 79%, 100%, 95%, 100%, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between US and angiography for anastomotic (r2=0.71, p<0.0001; slope=0.63+/-0.098 and intercept=24+/-6) and juxta-anastomotic stenosis (r2=0.71, p<0.0001; slope=0.68+/-0.060 and intercept=23+/-4). These results reveal that US has a high degree of accuracy in the detection of IS.