Reno-Protective Effect Of Methanol Extract Of Justicia Carnea Leaves On Gentamicin-Intoxicated Albino Rats:- Okorie Grace A

ABSTRACT xii The reno-protective effect of methanol extract of Justicia earned leaves on gentamicinintoxicated albino rats was evaluated, the animals were grouped into six groups of four rats each. Nephrotoxicity was induced in the rats intraperitoneally with 80mg/kg of gentamicin except group i which served as normal control and group iii which served as extract control and was administered 1000mg\kg body weight (bw) of Justicia carnea, group ii served as negative control and was administered 80mg\kg of gentamicin only, group iv, v and vi was administered 80mg\kg of gentamicin and was treated with Justicia carnea leaf extract at different doses of 200, 500 and 1000mg\kgb.w respectively. After 10 days of extract administration, they were humanly sacrificed and the serum collected was used for biochemical analysis. The concentrations of urea and creatinine showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the untreated group (group ii) when compared with the normal control (group i) while a significant (p< 0. 05) decrease was observed in the concentration of urea and creatinine in the groups treated with 200mg\kgb.w, 500mg\kgb.w and 1000mg\kgb.w of Justicia carnea extracts (group iv, v and vi) when compared with untreated group. On the other hand there was a significant (p<0.05) increase in the concentration of uric acid in the untreated group (group ii) when compared with the normal control but a significant (p<0.05) reduction was only observed in the group treated with 200mg\kgb.w of Justicia carnea (group iv) while groups treated with 500mg\kgb.w and 1000mg\kgb.w Justicia carnea (group v and vi) showed no significant (p>0.05) difference when compared with the untreated group. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH ) level showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the untreated group when compared with the normal control but treatment with different concentrations ofjusticia carnea extract (200, 500 and 1000mg\kgb.w) significantly (p<0.05) decrease the SOD activity and GSH level when compared with the untreated group. However there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the activity of catalase (CAT) when compared with the normal control. The malondialdehyde (MDA) level increase significantly (p<0.05) in the untreated group when compared with the normal control,while treatment with different concentrations of justicia carnea extract significantly (p<0.05) reduced the level of MDA when compared with the untieated group. In the histology of kidney, the results of the rats in the normal control group showed normal renal histomorphology against untreated group that showed degeneration and neciosis in the cortex and outer medullar but administration of different concentrations of justicia carnea extract showed a mild widespread degeneration ofthe renal tubules. The result of the study showed that administration of different fraction of Justicia carnea extract reduces reactive oxygen species and nephrotoxicity in the podocytes caused by gentamicin- intoxication. This suggest that different fractions of Justicia carnea extract may exhibit antioxidant and renoprotective properties.