European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

NEPHROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF HYDROALCOHOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CINNAMON MALABATRUM AGAINST GENTAMICIN-INDUCED NEPHROTOXICITY IN WISTAR RATS

P. Akhila*, S. N. V. L. Sirisha, S. Tajuddin, R.L. Manisha

ABSTRACT

Gentamicin is a useful aminoglycoside antibiotic whose clinical value is limited by a tendency to damage the kidney through oxidative injury to the proximal tubule. The leaves of Cinnamon malabatrum, an aromatic tree of the Western Ghats, are a rich source of flavonoids, tannins and phenolics. The present study assessed the protective effect of a hydroalcoholic leaf extract of C. malabatrum against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats. Authenticated leaf powder was defatted with petroleum ether and re-extracted with ethanol and water (1:1) in a Soxhlet apparatus, giving a yield of 3.68 % w/w. Thirty rats were divided into five groups of six: normal control; disease control receiving gentamicin (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneal, for 7 days); a standard group receiving silymarin (100 mg/kg, oral, for 14 days); and two test groups receiving the extract at 150 and 300 mg/kg orally for 14 days. Gentamicin raised blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and renal malondialdehyde and lowered body weight, creatinine clearance, reduced glutathione, urine output and urinary pH. Both doses of the extract reversed these changes in a dose-related way, and the higher dose gave values close to those of silymarin. Renal histology, badly disturbed by gentamicin, was largely preserved in the treated groups. The findings show that the leaf extract of C. malabatrum affords meaningful nephroprotection, most likely through its antioxidant constituents.

Keywords: Cinnamon malabatrum, gentamicin, nephroprotection, oxidative stress, malondialdehyde, silymarin.