Doxorubicin-induced renal inflammation in rats: Protective role of Plantago major

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible protective effect of Plantago major (P. major) extract against doxorubicin (DXR)-induced renal inflammation in rats.
80 male albino rats were randomly divided into 8 groups as follows: control, DXR, Ext (extract) 600, Ext1200, dexamethasone൴, vitamin E൴, Ext600൴, and Ext1200൴. Duration of the study was 35 days and DXR was intravenously injected on the 7th day of the experiment. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression levels were assessed in the left kidney. Serum creatinine concentration and osmolarity were determined on the 1st, 14th, 21st, 28th and 35th days of the experiment.
DXR caused a significant increase in renal expression of MCP-1 and TNF-α production compared to control animals. Administration of dexamethasone, vitamin E and P. major extract significantly improved the expression of these inflammatory mediators compared to DXR group. Compared to day 1 in DXR group, serum osmolarity showed a significant increase on days 21, 28 and 35. Also, on these days, serum osmolarity in DXR group was significantly higher than that on the same days in control group. In Vit E൴ and Ext 1200൴ groups, there was no significant changes in serum osmolarity among different days of the study. However, in these groups, serum osmolarity on days 21, 28 and 35 showed a significant decrease compared to the same days in DXR group.
Present results suggest that hydroethanolic extract of P. major protected renal tissue against DXR–induced renal inflammation.