Abstract
This study aimed at assessing the effect of gum arabic (Acacia senegal) oral treatment on the metabolic profile of chronic renal failure (CRF) patients. A total of 36 CRF patients (under regular haemodialysis) and 10 normal subjects participated in this study. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups-group A: 12 CRF patients under low-protein diet (LPD) (<40 g day
−1
) and gum arabic (50 g day
−1
) treatment; group B: 14 CRF patients under LPD and gum arabic, iron (ferrous sulphate, 200 mg day
−1
) and folic acid (5 mg day
−1
) treatment; group C (control group): 10 CRF patients under LPD and iron and folic acid treatment and group D: 10 normal volunteers (on normal diet) under daily dose of 50 g gum arabic. Each of the above treatments was continued for three consecutive months. Blood samples were collected from each subject before treatment and twice per month "pre-dialysis" for 3 months. Biochemical parameters measured were: serum urea, serum creatinine, serum uric acid, serum calcium and serum phosphorus. By the end of the 3 months of treatment, serum urea levels significantly decreased by 31.2 and 44.18% for group A and B, respectively, compared with the baseline (0.01 < p < 0.001) and control group (p < 0.05). Serum creatinine levels significantly decreased in the groups of gum users (A, B and D) by 9.94, 12.65 and 11.7%, respectively, compared with the control group (p < 0.001). There was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in serum uric acid levels by 14 and 19.9% for group A and B, respectively, compared with the baseline. Serum calcium levels increased by 12.64, 15.75 and 8.75% for group A, B and D, respectively, and these increases were significantly different (0.05 < p < 0.001) from baseline and control group for groups A and B. Serum phosphorus levels significantly decreased by 22.54% for group A, 17.69% for group B and 7.71% for group D, compared with the baseline (0.05 < p < 0.001). From this study, we conclude that oral administration of gum arabic could conceivably alleviate adverse effects of CRF.