Background
Cytotoxic chemotherapy is the standard treatment in most cancer patients with advanced stage. However, many patients suffer from severe side effects even if the anti-cancer treatment is effective. There is no established strategy to prevent wide range of side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy including appetite loss, myelosuppression, and acute renal injury.
Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has been used clinically for the treatment with heart failure in Japan, and exhibits a wide range of biological activities including cardiovascular and renal protection through binding the guanylate cyclase-A (GC-A) receptor. Recent studies also reported that exogenous ANP pre-treatment reduced renal fibrosis in acute renal injury model. However, there is no evidence about ANP protection against tissue injury by cisplatin, which is a representative cytotoxic agent for most cancer treatment. This study was designed to examine whether ANP pre-treatment attenuates tissue injury including acute renal failure induced by cisplatin.