Context: Macrothelypteris oligophlebia (Bak.) Ching (Thelypteridaceae) is a Chinese herbal medicine used traditionally for the treatment of diseases such as edema, boils, burns, and roundworms. However, research about the nephroprotective potential of this plant is not available.
Objective: Present study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of ethanol extract of M. oligophlebia rhizomes (EMO) on gentamicin (GM)-induced nephrotoxicity.
Materials and methods: Rats were intraperitoneal (i.p.) injected with GM (100 mg/kg) to induce nephrotoxicity and simultaneously EMO (250 and 500 mg/kg) was orally given to GM-treated rats for 8 days. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Cr), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were evaluated in renal tissues. Histopathological analysis was used for evaluation of the renal damage.
Results: Administration with GM-induced renal dysfunction in rats. Pre-treatment with EMO (500 mg/kg) significantly decreased the levels of BUN, Cr, MDA and NO (decreased BUN from 12.71 ± 1.28 to 7.19 ± 0.23 mmol/l, Cr from 39.77 ± 5.34 to 19.17 ± 0.90 μmol/l, MDA from 5.60 ± 0.37 to 2.63 ± 0.24 nmol/ml, and NO from 868.17 ± 22.67 to 589.51 ± 8.83 μmol/ml), and also restored the activities of renal antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px) (restored SOD from 1.59 ± 0.17 to 2.94 ± 0.13 U/mg protein, CAT from 3.22 ± 0.34 to 10.57 ± 0.27 U/mg protein, and GSH-Px from 9.11 ± 1.29 to 20.72 ± 1.83 U/mg protein).
Discussion and conclusion: Our results suggest that the rhizomes of M. oligophlebia potentially have a protective role in renal tissue against oxidative stress in acute renal failure.