Effect of Metformin on the Kidney Histology of Rats in Gentamicin Induced Toxicity

Abstract

Acknowledgment: We are indebted to Dr. Rashad Hussain from department of animal sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad for his consistent support and guidance for the write up of this manuscript. Study’s background and aim: Metformin, an oral antidiabetic agent has been studied in the past for its protective effects in aminoglycoside induced renal injuries. We hypothesized that the use of metformin may be protective in the aminoglycoside mediated acute renal failure. We thus tried two doses of metformin (M1; 75mg/kg/day) (M2; 150mg/kg/day) to evaluate this preventive potential on gentamicin induced acute renal failure in rats. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial Place of Study: Animal House of National Institute of Health Islamabad/ Department of Pharmacology, AL Nafees Medical College and Hospital, Islamabad, duration was 1stAugust 2018 to 31stJanuary 2019. Materials and Methods: The rats were divided into three main groups (n=10) kept under similar conditions for food and temperature. Renal failure was induced by injecting gentamicin (80mg/kg/day) intraperitonealy (ip) for eight days with simultaneous administration of oral metformin for 28 days.Slides of rats’ kidneys were prepared for histological comparison at the last day of study. Results: In gentamicin induced renal failure and simultaneous administration of metformin, the histological findings of rat kidneys showed remarkable tissue necrosis in control group and prevention in metformin treated groups. Conclusion: Based on the histological results of our study it was concluded that metformin at a dose of 150mg/kg showed a nephroprotective effect in gentamicin induced renal injuries in Sprague-Dawley rats. Keywords: Metformin, Gentamicin, Nephrotoxicty, Renal injuries, Nephroprotective effect