Introduction
Your kidneys remove waste materials in your body and help you retain the correct amount of fluids. They also send hormones that keep blood pressure stable and play a role in red blood cell production. They even make a form of vitamin D that is good for your bones. Some medications can make these things harder for the kidneys to do and keep them from working the way they should.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are medicines used to kill bacteria that cause infections.
These drugs affect your kidneys in various ways. For example, some can make crystals that don't break down and can block your urine flow. Others have substances that can damagecertain kidney cells when they try to filter them out. Some people also have allergic reactions to antibiotics that can affect their kidneys. All these things are more likely to happen if you take antibiotics for a long time or your dose is very high.
Antibiotics can also be dangerous if they are not taken correctly. People with kidney disease need to take a smaller amount of antibiotics than people with healthy kidneys. Take only medicines ordered for you by your healthcare provider.
Acute Kidney Injury & Antibiotics
Acute kidney injury, which used to be called acute renal failure, is the sudden decrease in kidney function. When acute kidney injury occurs, the kidneys have trouble removing waste products and excess fluids, which then build up in the body and upset the body's normal chemical balance.
The antibiotics that can cause acute kidney injury include aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, amphotericin B, bacitracin, and vancomycin.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) & Antibiotics
Patients presenting with CKD are particularly vulnerable to infections as the quality of their humoral and cellular immune response is impaired. Infectious diseases are the second leading cause of death in end-stage CKD patients. Thus, antibiotic treatment is common in these patients, and requires special attention.
Antibiotic prescription in CKD patients poses a twofold problem. Impairment of renal elimination, absorption, distribution, and metabolism of antibiotic drugs may be observed because of the pathophysiology changes due to renal failure. These changes in the drug pharmacokinetics may lead to their accumulation and toxicity if doses are not adjusted to the renal function. Thus, the appropriate use of antibacterial agents is essential to ensure efficacy and to prevent the emergence of resistance, and dosages should be adapted to the renal function to prevent adverse effects.
