ABSTRACT
Background: Gentamicin is widely used as an antibiotic for the treatment of gram negative infections.Evidences indicates that oxidative stress is involved in gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity. In Ayurvedicmedicine, Punica granatum Linn. is considered as 'a pharmacy unto itself”. It has been claimed intraditional literature, to treat various kidney ailments due to its antioxidant potential.Objective: To explore the possible mechanism of action of methanolic extract of P. granatum leaves(MPGL) in exerting a protective effect on gentamicin-induced nephropathy.Material and methods: Animals were administered with gentamicin (80 mg/kg/day i.m.) and simultaneously with MPGL (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o.) or metformin (100 mg/kg p.o.) for 8 days. A satellitegroup was employed in order to check for reversibility of nephrotoxic effects post discontinuation ofgentamicin administration. At the end of the study, all the rats were sacrificed and serumeurine parameters were investigated. Antioxidant enzymes and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) levels weredetermined in the kidney tissues along with histopathological examination of kidneys.Results: Increase in serum creatinine, urea, TNF-a, lipid peroxidation along with fall in the antioxidantenzymes activity and degeneration of tubules, arterioles as revealed by histopathological examinationconfirmed the manifestation of nephrotoxicity caused due to gentamicin. Simultaneous administration ofMPGL and gentamicin protected kidneys against nephrotoxic effects of gentamicin as evidenced fromnormalization of renal function parameters and amelioration of histopathological changes.Conclusion: Data suggests that MPGL attenuated oxidative stress associated renal injury by preservingantioxidant enzymes, reducing lipid peroxidation and inhibiting inflammatory mediators such as TNF-a.© 2017 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services byElsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).