Assessment of Hepato-Renal Functions and Markers of Oxidative Stress in Animals Exposed to Ionic Contrast Media

The increase in imaging technologies as well as many disease conditions requiring contrast media for diagnosis makes it important to investigate the effect of contrast media on hepato-renal function and its relation to oxidant and antioxidant status.To achieve this, twenty-five male albino rats were divided into 5 groups and administered with different doses of contrast agents (urografin and iohexol).After 48 hours of administration, 5 ml of blood samples was collected for the assessment of renal function, hepatic function and oxidative stress.The liver and kidneys were also excised for histological analysis.The result showed a significant increase (p=0.003) in the mean serum creatinine and urea in animals treated with either iohexol or urografin at different doses compared to the control.There was a significant increase (p=0.003) in serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level in contrast media group when compared with the control but serum total antioxidant status (TAS) level decreased in the groups administered with contrast media though the difference was not significant (p=0.003).Groups injected with iohexol showed no obvious histopathological alteration in both renal and hepatic tissues.In the groups treated with urografin, especially in higher dose, inflammatory cellular infiltration was observed at the peri-glomerular region and within the medulla in the kidney, while in the liver the portal tract appeared enlarged with infiltration of inflammatory cells.The result suggests that both iohexol and urografin are risk factors of kidney and liver damage as a result of increase in the pro-oxidant MDA and marked histomorphological alteration.