This study aimed to assess the protective effect of hesperidin (HES) and rutin (RUT) against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in male rats. Cisplatin (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) caused significant increases in serum sodium, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, total sodium and potassium excreted in urine, urine volume, and lipid peroxides measured as the malondialdehyde content of kidney, with significant decreases in serum total protein, creatinine clearance, reduced glutathione content of kidney, and kidney superoxide dismutase activity as compared with the control group. On the other hand, administration of HES (200 mg/kg, per oral [p.o.]) or RUT (30 mg/kg, p.o.) for 14 days with a single cisplatin dose on the tenth day ameliorated the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity as indicated by the restoration of kidney function and oxidative stress biomarkers. Furthermore, the test drugs reduced the histopathological changes induced by cisplatin. In conclusion, HES and RUT showed protective effects against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.

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Background:Gastric ulcer is one of the most serious diseases. Most classic treatment lines produce adverse drug reactions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the protective effects of two natural extracts, namely ginger and marshmallow extracts, on indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats.Materials and Methods:Animals were divided into five groups; a normal control group, an ulcer control group, and three treatment groups receiving famotidine (20 mg/kg), ginger (100 mg/kg), and marshmallow (100 mg/kg). Treatments were given orally on a daily basis for 14 days prior to a single intra-peritoneal administration of indomethacin (20 mg/kg).Results:Indomethacin administration resulted in significant ulcerogenic effect evidenced by significant elevations in ulcer number, ulcer index, and blood superoxide dismutase activity accompanied by significant decreases in gastric mucosal nitric oxide and glutathione levels. In addition, elevations in gastric mucosal lipid peroxides and histamine content were observed. Alternatively, pretreatment with famotidine, ginger or marshmallow significantly corrected macroscopic and biochemical findings, supported microscopically by results of histopathological study.Conclusion:These results demonstrate that administration of either ginger or marshmallow extract could protect against indomethacin-induced peptic ulcer in rats presumably via their antioxidant properties and inhibition of histamine release.

Since chronic kidney disease due to diabetic nephropathy (DN) is becoming an ever larger health burden worldwide, more effective therapies are desperately needed. In the present study, the anti-diabetic and renoprotective effects of aliskiren have been evaluated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DN in rats. DN was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (65 mg/kg). Three weeks after STZ, rats were divided into four groups; normal, diabetic, diabetic treated with gliclazide (10 mg/kg/day) for 1 month, and diabetic treated with aliskiren (50 mg/kg/day) for 1 month. At the end of the experiment, mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate were recorded. Rats were then euthanized and serum was separated for determination of glucose, insulin, kidney function tests, superoxide dismutase activity (SOD), adiponectin, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). One kidney was used for estimation of malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and nitric oxide (NO) contents. Other kidney was used for histopathological study and immunohistochemical measurement of caspase-3 and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). In addition, islets of Langerhans were isolated from normal rats by collagenase digestion technique for in vitro study. Aliskiren normalized STZ-induced hyperglycemia, increased insulin level both in vivo and in vitro, normalized kidney function tests and blood pressure, and alleviated STZ-induced kidney histopathological changes. This could be related to the ability of aliskiren toward preserving hemodynamic changes and alleviating oxidative stress and inflammatory and apoptotic markers induced by STZ in rats. However, aliskiren was more effective than gliclazide in relieving STZ-induced DN. These findings support the beneficial effect of aliskiren treatment in DN which could be attributed to its anti-diabetic, renoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects. Moreover, clinical studies are required to establish the effectiveness of aliskiren treatment in patients suffering from hypertension and diabetes.

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