Frequent therapeutical use of an aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin (GM) is limited by its nephrotoxic effects often characterized by both morphological and functional alterations of kidney leading to acute renal failure. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of dietary calcium supplementation on GM-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Experiments were performed on 30 adult male Wistar rats divided into three groups of 10 animals each. G-group received GM intraperitoneally at a dose of 100 mg/kg; GCa-group received the same dose of GM concomitantly with 1 g/kg calcium carbonate given orally; and C-group, serving as control, received 1 mL/day of normal saline. All groups were treated during 8 consecutive days. Quantitative evaluation of GM-induced structural and functional changes of kidney was performed by histopathological, morphometrical, and biochemical analyses. Compared with control, G-group of rats were found to have diffusely and unequally thickened glomerular basement membrane with neutrophil cells infiltration. In addition, vacuolization of cytoplasm of proximal tubule cells with coagulation-type necrosis was observed. These GM-induced pathological lesions were significantly reduced in the rats of GCa-group. Morphometric analysis revealed statistically significant differences in the size of glomeruli (area, major and minor axes, perimeter), optical density, and roundness of glomeruli (p < 0.05) between G and GCa groups. Biochemical analysis showed significant elevation in blood urea and serum creatinine concentrations, whereas potassium concentration was lowered in G-group compared with the other groups (p < 0.01). It is concluded that oral supplementation of calcium during treatment with GM resulted in significant reduction of morphological and functional kidney alterations.
Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a plant species in the family Apiaceae, which has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. This study investigated the effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts from celery leaves on intestinal contractility.Air-dried and powdered leaves were extracted with distilled water and 96% ethanol, respectively. The activities of the extracts on the smooth muscle contractions were evaluated using isolated rat ileum model. The isolated rat ileum was mounted in a 10ml tissue bath.The results suggest that the cumulative concentrations of the extracts of celery statistically significantly inhibited spontaneous rat ileum contractions (p<0.01). The extracts dose-dependently reduced the contractile effects of acetylcholine on the isolated ileum (p<0.05). Ethanol extract exhibited significantly greater relaxant activity than the aqueous extract (p<0.05). These results suggest that the aqueous and ethanol extracts of celery leaves can produce the inhibition of the spontaneous rat ileum contractions and contractions induced by acetylcholine.These data indicate that celery extracts act as intestinal smooth muscle relaxants, which justifies their use in gastrointestinal disorders.
Background/Aim. The fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller, Apiaceae) has a long history of use as traditional herb medicine due to its carminative properties. The study was aimed to investigate the effects of aqueous and methanol fennel stem extracts on intestinal activity. Methods. Relaxant activity of aqueous and methanol fennel stem extracts was evaluated in vitro in three experimental models: spontaneous contraction, acetylcholine and potassium chloride (KCl)-induced contraction of an isolated rat ileum. The composition of aqueous and methanol fennel stem extracts was qualitatively analyzed using the high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. Results. In the presence of an aqueous fennel stem extract at a concentration of 3 mg/mL, the inhibition of the spontaneous contractions of isolated rat ileum was 35.05% ± 3.57%. In presence of a methanol fennel stem extract at the same concentration, the maximum reduction of the spontaneous contractions was 48.91% ± 6.31%. The extracts in a concentration-dependent manner significantly inhibited the acetylcholine and KCl induced contractions of the isolated rat ileum (p < 0.01). The following components were identified in fennel methanol stem extract: 3-caffeoylquinic acid, chlorogenic acid, 4-caffeoylquinic acid, 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, rutin, miquelianin, quercetin heterosides, 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, apigenin and rosmarinic acid. In an aqueous extract, their presence is found in trace amounts. Conclusion. The results of this study showed that the aqueous and methanol fennel stem extracts have spasmolytic effects on the intestinal smooth muscle and may be used for the control of intestinal motility.
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