• The evaluation of Trans chalcon on kidney injury induced by Gentamicintamicin in male Wistar rat
  • Fatemeh Heidari,1 Mahsa Ale Ebrahim,2,*
    1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Kidney disease, which is becoming increasingly common, is one of the main public health problems. It is considered one of the 12 top causes of mortality worldwide, and the number of deaths from kidney disease increased by 18.4% from 2005 to 2019. Gentamicin is an antibiotic usually used to treat infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. However, its long-term use may harm the kidneys. Trans-chalcone, a flavonoid precursor, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in addition to a broad spectrum of therapeutic properties including antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-ulcer and anti-inflammatory activities. Considering the beneficial effects of trans-chalcone, this research intended to evaluate its activity against gentamicin-induced kidney injury in male Wistar rats.
  • Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into 8 groups (n=6 per group): the control group (only food and water), three healthy experimental groups (trans-chalcone at 12, 24, or 50 mg/kg), the control group with kidney disease (gentamicin at 100 mg/kg) and three experimental groups with kidney disease (gentamicin at 100 mg/kg together with trans-chalcone at 12, 24, or 50 mg/kg). The period of treatment was 30 days for all groups, gentamicin was administered 8 times (twice-weekly) intraperitoneally and trans-chalcone once daily by intragastric gavage. At the end of the treatment period, the rats were anesthetized using combination of ketamine (90 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). Blood samples were taken from the heart and various biochemical factors including blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine, albumin and phosphate, sodium, potassium and calcium ions were measured. In addition, part of the kidney tissue was used for histopathological assessments and the rest was homogenized for evaluation of the activities of the antioxidant enzymes including catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD).
  • Results: In the control group with kidney disease ( that received gentamicin) the levels of BUN and serum creatinine and the concentrations of phosphate, sodium and calcium ions increased significantly compared to the control (<0.001). Moreover, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes (CAT and SOD) decreased significantly compared to the control ( P<0.001). Based on the findings of histopathological evaluation (in which H&E staining was used), severe injury in kidney tissue in the form of acute necrosis of uriniferous tubules (50-75%) and strong penetration of mononuclear inflammatory cells (25-50%) was observed in the control group with kidney disease. No tissue injury or serum biochemical changes was recorded in the trans-chalcone control group compared to the control group. Furthermore, there was a dose-dependent improvement in biochemical and tissue results in the group receiving gentamicin together with trans-chalcone.
  • Conclusion: Trans-chalcone reduced toxic effects of gentamicin in kidney tissue probably by enhancing improvement in intracellular antioxidant status, removing free radicals, and exerting its anti-inflammatory property.
  • Keywords: Nephrotoxin, Kidney, Gentamicintamicin, Trans-chalcone, Rat