A Metabolomic Approach to Clarifying the Effect of AST-120 on 5/6 Nephrectomized Rats by Capillary Electrophoresis with Mass Spectrometry (CE-MS)

The oral adsorbent AST-120 is composed of spherical carbon particles and has an adsorption ability for certain small-molecular-weight compounds that accumulate in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). So far, very few compounds are known to be adsorbed by AST-120 in vivo. To examine the effect of AST-120 in vivo, we comprehensively evaluated the plasma concentrations of 146 compounds (61 anions and 85 cations) in CKD model rats, with or without four weeks of treatment with AST-120. By capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry, we identified 6 anions and 17 cations that were significantly decreased by AST-120 treatment. In contrast, we also identified 2 cations that were significantly increased by AST-120. Among them, 4 anions, apart from indoxyl sulfate and hippurate, and 19 cations were newly identified in this study. The plasma levels of N-acetyl-neuraminate, 4-pyridoxate, 4-oxopentanoate, glycine, gamma-guanidinobutyrate, N-gamma-ethylglutamine, allantoin, cytosine, 5-methylcytosine and imidazole-4-acetate were significantly increased in the CKD model compared with the sham-operated group, and were significantly decreased by AST-120 treatment. Therefore, these 10 compounds could be added as uremic compounds that indicate the effect of AST-120 treatment. This study provides useful information not only for identifying the indicators of AST-120, but also for clarifying changes in the metabolic profile by AST-120 treatment in the clinical setting.