Abstract
Objective: Doxorubicin is presently a leading antineoplastic drug with promising efficacy. This study was designed to investigate the histological effects of doxorubicin toxicity on rat kidneys and how much protection is provided by Nigella Sativa.
 Materials & Methods: A randomized controlled trial conducted on thirty adult male wistar rats divided randomly into three equal groups. Group A served as a control. Group B was injected with weekly intraperitoneal injections of doxorubicin at a dose of 3mg/kg b.w. Group C rats received doxorubicin along with nigella sativa at a dose of 1000mg/kg b.w. orally daily. At the end of these interventions, animals were sacrificed and kidneys were removed for the purpose of histological staining. Renal glomerular and tubules related histopathological parameters were assessed qualitatively as mild, moderate & severe. Renal glomerular diameter was digitally measured by microscope. Ethical approval was taken from Ethical Committee, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi. All the parameters were statistically analyzed.
 Results: Group B rats’ renal tissue was adversely affected by the drug showing marked necrosis of tubules and the glomeruli along with interstitial cells’ infiltration. Glomerular diameter was also significantly decreased in group B as compared to group A. These histological features in group C rats’ renal tissue were milder and glomerular diameter was close to that of group A.
 Conclusion: According to our study doxorubicin treatment proved noxious for the renal tissue, both tubules and glomeruli, while nigella sativa significantly competed against these pathological alterations.
Highlights
Effects of DOX involve renal glomeruli, renal tubules and renal interstitium and has been reported in the recent literature. [4] Its cardiotoxic effects can be countered by chelating agents but presently there is no effective remedy for the prevention of DOX induced renal toxicity
According to our study doxorubicin treatment proved noxious for the renal tissue, both tubules and glomeruli, while nigella sativa significantly competed against these pathological alterations
(11) DOX was obtained from Pfizer Pharma in powdered form and its sterile solution was prepared by dissolving 50gm of powder in 25ml of normal saline. [12] 30 male albino rats weighing 180–250gm and age 90120 days were procured from Animal Care Center of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi and kept under optimal conditions
Summary
This randomized controlled trial was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi after approval from the Institutional Research Ethics Committee. [13] Group C received five weekly intraperitoneal doses of DOX at a dose of 3mg/kg body weight and aqueous suspension of powdered NS 1000mg/kg body weight orally daily for five weeks. Three random nonoverlapping microscopic areas of a slide were selected for recording the pathological findings of each animal’s kidney. The severity of these findings was graded semiquantitatively as: Score 0 (normal)for no pathological finding; Score + (mild) for 10% to 25% of the examined fields with histological alterations; Score ++ (moderate) for 25% to 50% of the examined fields with histological alterations and Score +++ (severe)for more than 50% of the examined fields with histological alterations. Frequency & percentages were calculated for qualitative variables and for comparison chi square test or fisher exact test was applied
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