Possible Protective Effect of Natural Extracts of Rosemary and Parsley Against Isoniazid-induced Nephrotoxicity in Adult Male Albino Rats

Abstract

The treatment of tuberculosis (TB) has been reported to induce nephrotoxicity arised in association with hepatotoxicity. Isoniazid (INH), being the first line drug used as anti-tuberculosis drugs, is known to induce renal toxicity associated with hepatotoxicity leading to termination of therapy in patients during the intensive phase. The present study aims to determine the protective effect of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum) aqueous extracts against Isoniazid-induced nephrotoxicity. To achieve this purpose, two main experiments were conducted; short-term study for 4 weeks and long-term one for 8 weeks. Adult male albino rats (120-150g) were randomly divided into 6 groups for each experiment (10 animals each) as follows: group (1) rats administrated with saline and served as control, group (2) animals orally administrated with rosemary extract (440mg/kg body weight./day), group (3) animals administrated with parsley extract (250 mg/kg body weight./day), group (4) rats received Isoniazid alone (50 mg/kg body weight./day), group (5) rats daily received Isoniazid in combination with rosemary extract, and group (6) rats daily received Isoniazid in combination with parsley extract. The administration of natural extracts or Isoniazid was orally and daily for four weeks for the short-term experiment and for eight weeks for the long-term one. At the end of each experiment, all rats were weighed then sacrificed and the biochemical investigations indicative of kidney function as serum creatinine, urea and uric acid were assayed. In addition, serum gamma glutamy ltransferase (GGT) activity and the levels of serum inorganic ions (Na+, K+ and total Ca++) were determined. Also, the change in the body weight gain was recorded. The results revealed that administration of rosemary or parsley extract in combination with isoniazid ameliorated the Isoniazid-induced nephrotoxicity. This was evidenced by the marked improvement in kidney function as monitored through the significant decrement in the elevated serum levels of creatinine, urea and uric acid in addition to the remarkable amelioration of GGT activity. Also, the administration of parsley or rosemary extracts in combination with Isoniazid normalized to some extent, the body weight gain and the other biochemical parameters in rats compared with those intoxicated with Isoniazid only. The improvement observed in the biochemical parameters was more pronounced in long-term study compared to the short-term one. In conclusion, either rosemary or parsley extract could play an evidenced beneficial role for prevention of Isoniazid-induced nephrotoxic effects. This protective effect could be attributed to the antioxidant activity of their major constituents.