Effect of ascorbic acid on the hepatic and renal toxicity of some aminoglycoside antibiotics

The effects of i.p. injections of aminoglycoside antibiotics: Amikacin, gentamicin and tobramycin in doses of 70, 35 and 35 mg/kg respectively for 10 consecutive days and their combination with ascorbic acid [250 mg/kg, orally] on liver and kidney functions of rabbits were studied. Treatment with aminoglycoside antibiotics revealed slight increase in serum proteins [S.prot], serum alanine aminotransferase [S. ALAT] and serum alkaline phosphatase [S. APHOS] values. On the other hand, combination between aminoglycoside antibiotics and ascorbic acid reduced significantly serum urea and serum creatinine levels, but the reduction was not significant in case of amikacin with ascorbic acid compared with amikacin treated group. The present work revealed that ascorbic acid has a protective effect against the aminoglycoside antibiotics induced nephrotoxicity

Serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase as a tumour marker in patients with non Hodgkin's lymphoma

Levels of gamma glutamyl transpeptidase and lactic dehydrogenase were measured in the serum of 20 patients with advanced clinical stages of non-Hodkin's lymphoma before treatment and after four cycles of combination chemotherapy. Both were found to be significantly elevated in the active disease and they decrease significantly with the achievement of complete clinical remission. No correlations were detected between the serum levels of both enzymes indicating that the mechanisms of the rise of both enzymes may be different. So, serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase can be used as a tumor marker in non- Hodkin's lymphoma