In a double blind, placebo controlled manner, we randomised nine stable outpatients with both heart failure (LVEF < 40 % and NYHA class II or III) and renal failure (Cockroft Gault clearance of 20-60 ml/min) to placebo or NAC (500 mg orally twice daily) for 28 days followed by a wash out period (>7 days) and crossover to the other treatment.
Eight patients completed the study and all data (N = 9) was used in the analysis. Mean forearm blood flow improved significantly with NAC with mean ratio of improvement of 1.99 (SEM: ¡À0.49) for NAC and 0.73 (SEM: ¡À0.23) for placebo with a p-value of 0.047. There was no significant difference in BNP (p = 0.25), renal function (p = 0.71) or NYHA class (p = 0.5). No deaths occurred during the trial.
In this pilot trial of patients with CRS, NAC therapy was associated with improved forearm blood flow. This may represent a general improvement in endothelial function and warrants further investigation of antioxidant therapy in these patients.