Nephroprotective effect of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ agonists on thioacetamide-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

Aim This study, for the first time, evaluates the effect of PPARα/γ agonists on thioacetamide (TA)-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Methods Male wistar rats were treated with TA (50 mg/kg, twice weekly for 6 weeks) to induce nephrotoxicity. Results Our results showed that bezafibrate and telmisartan caused significant decrease in urea, creatinine and renal malondialdehyde (MDA) which were elevated with TA administration. At the same time, both drugs caused significant increase in renal nitric oxide (NO) and renal superoxide dismutase (SOD) which were reduced with TA. Meanwhile, TA caused significant reduction in PPARα and PPARγ expression, telmisartan increased only PPARγ expression and bezafibrate increased only PPARα expression. Conclusion Our findings suggests that bezafibrate and telmisartan are protective against TA-induced nephrotoxicity possibly through their antioxidant activity.