Posted on 02/05/2025 8:47:59 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Mefenamic acid, a common anti-inflammatory drug already approved for pain management, has been found to significantly reduce the formation of a toxic compound known as p-cresol sulfate in people with kidney disease with a minimal dose.
"Right now, there's nothing drug-wise we can use to reduce this toxin quickly," says Tony Kiang.
The body makes a compound called p-cresol when it breaks down proteins and amino acids.
A healthy person's kidneys quickly get rid of the toxic sulfates. However, for the population with chronic kidney disease, they can accumulate to dangerous levels.
"High levels of this toxin are correlated with heart disease, further progression of kidney disease, brain fog, central nervous system diseases, bone loss and even cancer," he says.
"Even dialysis is not a very efficient approach to eliminate this toxin," he adds.
Current approaches to managing this problem revolve around strict dietary changes. However, these changes work slowly and are not an ideal solution when fast action is needed.
Not only does mefenamic acid work very quickly, it's also selective in what it targets, affecting just the harmful compounds while leaving the non-toxic compounds intact, says Kiang.
"It essentially blocks the metabolic pathway in the liver that generates this toxin, so it's like a switch you can turn off."
Mefenamic acid is already available in a generic version with no associated patent, so it's a cost-effective therapy, explains Kiang. And since the drug has already been on the market for many years, its path to this new clinical use could be short.
To identify potential sulfotransferase inhibitors that might work for this purpose, Kiang did a systematic screening of several available options and found mefenamic acid was the most potent and promising option, which was why he further explored the efficacy of the drug in this context.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It can “significantly” reduce a toxic compound that causes long-term problems with kidney disease.
Only very low doses are needed, from the experiment.
aka Ponstel, IIRC used for menstrual pain. More common in other countries; here the go-to is ibuprofen as OTC, but mefenamic acid has fewer side effects.
interesting
Bookmark
P
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.