J Biomed Res.  2013 Sep;14(3):145-153.

Synergistic effect of melamine in combination with cyanuric acid on urinary tract toxicity in rats

Affiliations
  • 1College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea. toxkim@chonnam.ac.kr

Abstract

The present study investigated the urinary tract toxicity of melamine alone or in combination with cyanuric acid in rats. Male rats were orally administered melamine alone (800 mg/kg) or melamine plus cyanuric acid (50 mg/kg each) for 3 consecutive days. Although melamine treatment did not show any significant difference in body weight, kidney or urinary bladder weight, serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) or creatinine levels, it caused a decrease in urinary pH and mild histopathological alterations in the kidney and urinary bladder. In contrast, co-administration of melamine and cyanuric acid induced a decrease in body weight, an increase in kidneys and urinary bladder weights, and an elevation in serum BUN and creatinine levels, which were not observed in animals treated with melamine alone. Histopathological examination showed that the incidence and severity of histopathological lesions in the kidney and urinary bladder were much higher than those in the melamine group. Urinalysis revealed an increase in urine occult blood, leukocytes and protein and a decrease in urinary pH. These results indicate that concomitant administration of cyanuric acid synergistically potentiated the urinary tract toxicity induced by melamine in rats. In this study, we first demonstrated the synergistic toxic effects of melamine in combination with cyanuric acid on urinary bladder and urinalysis in rats.

Keyword

melamine; cyanuric acid; urinary tract toxicity; calculi; synergistic effect

MeSH Terms

Animals
Blood Urea Nitrogen
Body Weight
Calculi
Creatinine
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Incidence
Kidney
Leukocytes
Male
Occult Blood
Rats*
Triazines
Urinalysis
Urinary Bladder
Urinary Tract*
Urine
Weights and Measures
Creatinine
Triazines
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