The Possible Protective Effect of Ferulic Acid Against Cisplatin-Induced Renal Toxicity in Rats

Cisplatin (CIS) is a frequently used chemotherapeutic agent with a potential toxic health effect on kidney and liver that make it a public health issue. Ferulic acid (FA) is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent that presents in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This study aimed to assess the function of ferulic acid in attenuation of the toxic effects of cisplatin on biochemical parameters and histological alterations in the adult male albino rats' kidney. Forty adult male albino rats were allocated into four groups. group I (Negative control group), group II (ferulic acid group): Each rat received 100 mg/kg body weight ferulic acid for 21 days by gastric gavage daily; group III (CIS treated group): Each rat intraperitoneally injected with 7.5 mg of cisplatin for each kilogram body weight on the 7th and 14th days respectively, and group IV (CIS + FA group). The experiment lasted for 21 days and after 24 hours from the last dose, serum urea and creatinine, renal tissue catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Histopathological examination of the kidney tissue and immunohistochemical staining by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were performed. In the CIS treated rats, serum urea and creatinine levels increased. Also, CIS caused an increase in renal tissue MDA and decrease in renal tissue catalase and GPx that all were significantly reversed in CIS+FA group. Histopathology and immunohistochemical staining showed that CIS induced histological damages in the form of marked reno-tubular degenerative and necrotic changes with cystic dilatation of many tubules, and strong immunoreaction decreased by co-treatment of FA. Administration of FA produced significant improvement of kidney function and histology beside significant improvement in oxidative stress caused by CIS.