Efficacy of vitamin E and N-acetylcysteine in the prevention of contrast induced kidney injury in patients with chronic kidney disease: a double blind, randomized controlled trial

Contrast induced acute kidney injury is one of the most frequent causes of hospital acquired acute kidney injury. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of vitamin E or N-acetylcysteine as an adjunct to current standard therapy in the prevention of this clinical predicament. We tested the hypothesis that vitamin E or N-acetylcysteine added to standard therapy with 0.45 % saline is superior in preserving renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease stage 1-4 undergoing elective computer-assisted tomography with nonionic radiocontrast agents when compared to 0.45 % saline alone. Prospective, randomized, single-center, double-masked, double dummy, placebo-controlled, parallel clinical trial. The patients were randomized to either vitamin E (total dose 2160 mg i.v.) or N-acetylcysteine (total dose 4800 mg p.o.) in addition to 0.45 % saline (1 mL/kg/h over 24 h) or saline alone. Serum creatinine change between baseline and 24 h after radiocontrast was the primary outcome. Contrast induced acute kidney injury was defined as a rise in serum creatinine > 25 % over the baseline value within 48 h. Thirty patients (mean age 74.6 years; 17 females; 9 diabetics; all Caucasians; mean serum creatinine 1.35 mg/dL; mean creatinine clearance 56 mL/min) were enrolled. No patient developed contrast induced acute kidney injury. There was no significant difference in serum creatinine change between the three study arms. Following radiocontrast administration, neither vitamin E nor N-acetylcystein in addition to saline demonstrated an additional beneficial effect on kidney function when compared to saline alone.