N-Acetylglucosamine is the most effective glucosamine derivative for the treatment of membranous nephropathy in rats.

Nephroprotective drug development for optimizing treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important task of pharmaceutical science. Our study evaluated nephroprotective properties of the two glucosamine derivatives N-acetylglucosamine and glucosamine hydrochloride in a 3-week-long parenteral and oral daily administration at doses of 50 mg/kg in rats with doxorubicin nephropathy. Nephroprotective activity (NA) was evaluated by determining the functional state of the kidneys, the level of azotemia and the activity of free-radical processes in the renal tissue. The results show a significant increase in renal excretory function, normalization of nitrogen metabolism and a decline of free-radical processes under the influence of both studied amino sugars in rats with doxorubicin nephropathy. I. m. route of administration yielded the highest efficacy for both amino sugars with the highest level of NA (83.3%) shown by N-acetylglucosamine. Thus N-acetylglucosamine in i. m. injections has the highest NA among the glucosamine derivatives, and is a promising agent for CKD treatment.