Document Type : Research articles

Authors

• Lokman Ustyol ¹
• Kaan Demirören ²
• Ibrahim Kandemir ³
• Remzi Erten ⁴
• Kezban Bulan ²
• Sultan Kaba ²
• Nihat Demir ²
• Mehmet Turan Basunlu ²

¹ Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Yuzuncuyıl University, Van, Turkey

² Department of Pediatrics, Yuzuncuyıl University, Van, Turkey

³ Baskale Goverment Hospital, Van, Turkey

⁴ Department of Pathology, Yuzuncuyıl University, Van, Turkey

Abstract

Background: Many pharmacological agents may lead to kidney damage. Preventing nephrotoxicity reduces the risk of morbidity and mortality, as well as decreasing hospitalization costs.
Objectives: In this study, we investigated the comparative nephroprotective effects of silymarin, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and thymoquinone (TQ) in animal models (rats) in which we induced nephrotoxicity using carbon tetrachloride (CCl4).
Methods: This animal experimental study was conducted at the experimental animals center of Yuzuncu Yil University, Turkey, in 2015. Thirty-eight adult male Wistar rats were used in this study. We defined five experimental groups and treated them for four weeks. The first group (n = 8) was given no medicine. The second group (n = 8) was given only CCl4 (1.5 ml/kg, intraperitoneally (IP), in olive oil, twice a week). The third group (n = 6) was given TQ (10 mg/kg, IP, in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), daily) and CCl4 (1.5 mL/kg). The fourth group (n = 8) was given silymarin (100 mg/kg, IP, in DMSO, daily) and CCl4 (1.5 mL/kg), while the fifth group (n = 8) was given NAC (10 mg/kg, IP, daily) and CCl4 (1.5 mL/kg). The kidneys of all the rats in every group were evaluated histologically using light microscopic methods at the end of the fourth week. A grading scheme was used to score the histological alterations related to tubular injury: absent (-), mild (+), moderate (++), severe (+++), and quite severe (++++).
Results: In terms of the mean values of tubular damage, the first group had a mean of 0.0, the second group had 3.88 ± 0.35, the third group had 1.00 ± 0.89, the fourth group had 2.13 ± 1.13, and the fifth group had 2.75 ± 1.04. The results showed that, histopathologically, CCl4 had quite a severe toxic effect on the tubules when compared to the control group, although the glomeruli were intact. Silymarin, TQ, and NAC all showed statistically significant nephroprotective effects (P < 0.01). However, of the three, TQ was the most powerful nephroprotective agent (P < 0.01).
Conclusions: In conclusion, we suggest that TQ may be used as a prophylactic agent against nephrotoxicity, especially in instances of tubular injury. However, human-based studies are still needed.

Keywords

• Kidney
• Nephrotoxicity
• Nephroprotective
• Silymarin
• N-Acetylcysteine
• Thymoquinone