Abstract

Antibiotics and cancer treatment drugs have been associated with renal failure. In developing countries, antibiotics are often obtained without prescription and this misuse increases the risk of renal failure, especially for patients which have been taking gentamicin for a long-term. For example, taking the aminoglycoside antibiotic, particularly in diabetics, without close medical supervision has been suggested to the cause kidney damage and renal failure in many patients. The objectives of this preliminary study were to investigate the association of antibiotics and renal failure in Hemodialysis (HD) patients in Egypt; and to document the changes in biochemical profiles and histopathology of the kidneys when nephrotoxicity is induced by the antibiotic gentamicin (GM) and the cancer therapeutic agent Cisplatin (Cis). Serum biochemical profiles of HD patients and rats with induced renal failure were compared. Fifty HD patients and six normal people were employed in the study. Sixty experimental rats were divided into three groups: Control, gentamicin-induced renal failure group, and cisplatin-induced renal failure group. The survey of HD patients revealed that 6% of the renal failure is antibiotics related. GM and Cis caused kidney damage and renal failure in rats. The levels of blood serum urea, creatinine, and potassium significantly increased in drug-induced renal failure rats. Serum sodium decreased in GM rats with renal failure and in HD patients compared to the control groups. The histopathological changes in renal tissues in Cis and GM induced renal failure appeared in early stage of renal dysfunction. More studies are needed to determine the correlations between biochemical markers and histopathological changes that may be used as an early warning system for assessing earlier drugs-induced stress to the kidneys before renal failure progresses.

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