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Volume 4 No. 1, January 2009 |
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Soft Drinks
Consumption and Renal Toxicity in Normal and Uninephrectomized Rats
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt
Background/Aim: Living-donor kidney transplantation is
increasingly performed in recent years. Also the consumption of
different kinds of drinks increased constantly especially Cola type,
which may carry a health risks. This research was designed to
evaluate the possible toxic effects of Coca-Cola, as one of the most
commonly used soft drinks, on the kidney of both normal and
uninephrectomized rats as an animal model of living kidney donors.
Materials& methods: Twenty adult male albino rats were used in this
study divided into four groups: the first and second groups included
normal rats and uninephrectomized rats. They used tape water for
drinking and considered control. The third and fourth groups
included also normal and uninephrectomized rats but they drank
Coca-Cola instead of water for one month. Results: The results of
the present study demonstrated that Coca-Cola drinking led to renal
damage and sections obtained from the renal cortex of
uninephrectomized rats revealed massive peritubular hemorrhage and
focal degeneration in renal tubules. E/M examination of the kidney
of the same group confirmed the light microscopic changes and
revealed marked degenerative changes in both proximal and distal
convoluted tubules. The cells of both tubules appeared with thick
irregular basement membrane, shrunken nuclei, abnormal mitochondria,
cytoplasmic vacuoles and dense bodies. Few infiltrating cells were
also noticed between the tubules. On the other hand, normal rats
received Coca-Cola showed minimal degenerative changes. The
glomeruli were congested and the renal tubules showed slight
thickening of the basement membrane, few cytoplasmic vacuoles and
dense bodies. Conclusion: The adverse effects of Coca-Cola observed
in this study reinforce the putative role of soft drinks in
producing renal damage. On the basis of the results of this work,
living kidney donors are advised to change their drinking behaviour,
and excessive consumption of regular soft drinks especially Cola
type should be generally discouraged. |
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