Antioxidant and renoprotective activity of chitosan in nephrectomized rats

The effect of chitosan on oxidative stress and chronic renal failure was investigated using 5/6 nephrectomized rats. The ingestion of chitosan over a 4-week period resulted in a significant decrease in total body weight, glucose, serum creatinine and indoxyl sulfate levels (P = 0.0011, P = 0.0006, P = 0.0012, and P = 0.0005, respectively), compared with the non-treated nephrectomized group. The ingestion of chitosan also resulted in a lowered ratio of oxidized to reduced albumin (P = 0.003) and an increase in biological antioxidant potential (P = 0.023). Interestingly, the oxidized albumin ratio was correlated with serum indoxyl sulfate levels in vivo. These results suggest that the ingestion of chitosan results in a significant reduction in the levels of pro-oxidants, such as uremic toxins, in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby inhibiting the subsequent development of oxidative stress in the systemic circulation.