EFFECT OF METHANOLIC FRACTION OF KALANCHOE CRENATA ON RENAL MORPHOPHYSIOLOGY IN ADRIAMYCIN-INDUCED IMPAIRED KIDNEY IN RATS Original Article

Objectives: The effect of methanolic extract of Kalanchoe crenata (MEKC) was investigated on renal morphology and function in adriamycininduced kidney impairment in rats. Methods: Ether anesthetized rats received three intravenous injections (days 0, 14, 28) of 2 mg/kg body weight of adriamycin. Repeated doses of the extract (0, 50 and 68 mg/kg bw) and losartan (10 mg/kg bw) were administered orally once daily, for 6 weeks, to adriamycin- nephropathic rats. Kidney functions were assessed through proteinuria, creatinemia and creatinuria, renal malondialdehyde (MDA) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and morphology analyses. Results: The 50 and 68 mg/kg MEKC, as the losartan, decreased proteinuria: -63.74 % and -64.94 % respectively, significantly (P<0.01) increased the creatinuria and the creatinuria/creatinemia ratio, and also decreased the creatinemia in diseased rats. The plant extracts markedly (P<0.05) increased plasma sodium, and decreased (P<0.01) the urinary sodium and potassium levels. The MEKC has remarkably (P<0.01) decreased the level of the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and increased the SOD level in nephropathic rats. The extract has improved the damage of kidney induced by adriamycin. Conclusion: The results indicate that the treatment with the K. crenata methanolic extract may improve proteinuria and all the symptoms that breed from nephropathy, and could improve kidney morphology. Therefore, K. crenata could be promising for the development of a standardized phytomedicine for the treatment of kidney disease.