title: Prospective randomized study evaluating the efficacy of the spherical adsorptive carbon AST-120 in chronic kidney disease patients with moderate decrease in renal function.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We studied whether adding the spherical adsorptive carbon AST-120 to conventional treatments is effective in inhibiting progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the stage of moderate decrease in renal function.
  
  
  METHODS
  43 CKD patients with moderately impaired renal function indicated by glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 20-70 ml/min as measured by non-radiolabeled iothalamate clearance method were enrolled in the study. 26 patients showing a decrease of GFR by 5 ml/min during a 1-year observation period were randomized to receive ongoing treatments only (control group, 12 cases) or with AST-120 co-administered with ongoing treatment (AST-120 group, 14 cases). The intervention period was 1 year and the change in GFR was the primary evaluation variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean changes of GFR per month (DeltaGFR) in the intervention period were not significantly different between both groups. However, when comparing the DeltaGFR in the observation and intervention periods for each group, the rate of decline in GFR was significantly retarded (p < 0.001) in the AST-120 group while no significant difference was observed in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that co-administration of AST-120 with conventional treatments retards decline in renal function in CKD patients with moderate decrease in renal function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka, Japan. tshoji-ind@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Kodo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomida
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furumatsu
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: Enyu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsubakihara
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002244:Carbon / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D010087:Oxides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D002244:Carbon; C040896:AST 120