Yousif A. Elhassaneen^1,, Fatma Al-Zahraa A. Al-Sherif¹, Sherif S. Ragab¹, Mai M. Khafagi¹, Basma M. Hashem¹

With a long history in folk medicine for centuries, arak (Salvadora persica) was used in different fields including oral hygiene, food, cosmetics, fuel, and even as a medicine. In an attempt to open new horizons for the use of this plant in medical fields, the current study was conducted with the aim of exploring the potential preventive and treatment effects of Salvadora persica on kidney disorders induced by gentamicin in male albino rats. To achieve this purpose, sixty six male albino rats were divided into three main groups. The first group (negative control) was fed basal diet (BD), the second group (treatment group) was injected with gentamicin to cause kidney damage, then it was treated with Salvadora persica powder (SPP) or ethanol extract (SPEE), the third group (prevention group) was treated with SPP or SPEE, followed by injection with gentamicin. In addition, the last two groups contained within their subgroups a positive control group that was injected with gentamicin and fed BD. At the end of the experiment, data indicated that gentamicin-treated rats exhibited significantly (p≤0.05) decreased in biological parameters (BWG, FI and FER) and increase in liver functions (AST, ALT and (ALP), kidney functions (urea, uric acid and creatinine), and serum lipid profile (TGs, TC and LDL-C) compared to the normal group. However, intervention with SPP or SPEE (2.5 and 5.0 % g/100g diet) in feeding rats for 26 days led to significantly (p≤0.05) improvements in all of those parameters by different rates. The rate of improvement was higher in the treatment group than the prevention group. Also, all treatments in which SPP was used recorded greater effectiveness compared to the SPEE. In all treatment, the rate of improvement in both biological and biochemical tested parameters of the nephrotoxic rats were exhibited a dose- dependent manner. These findings provide a basis for the use of SPP or SPEE for the prevention and treatment of nephrotoxicity. Data also supports the benefits of Salvadora persica supplementation to diet in alleviating disorders/side effects associated with kidney antibiotics, including gentamicin.

Swak, body weight gain, kidney functions, liver functions, serum lipid profile, minerals, urine, histology