Charcoal may provide a new approach to managing the high rate of heart disease in patients with advanced kidney disease, U.S. researchers said.

Patients with advanced kidney disease have high rates of atherosclerosis -- hardening of the arteries -- and death from heart disease.

Dr. Valentina Kon of Vanderbilt University, said oral activated charcoal, a product called AST-120, which has traditionally been used as an emergency treatment for certain types of poisoning may exert beneficial effects in kidney disease.

"We found that oral activated charcoal lessens atherosclerotic lesions in experimental mice with kidney damage," Kon said in a statement. "This is especially important because there is no effective treatment to reduce the high rate of cardiovascular mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease."

The study found mice with profoundly reduced renal mass, treatment with AST-120 led to a dramatic decrease in atherosclerosis. The improvement in atherosclerosis was unrelated to changes in blood pressure or cholesterol levels, rather the effect appeared related to reduced inflammation in the blood vessels, Kon said.