Original Articles
Abeer A. A. Salama, Bahia M. E
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the effects of green tea extract and lycopene on potassium dichromateinduced acute renal failure (ARF) and oxidative stress in rats. ARF was induced by subcutaneously (s.c) injection of a single dose (15 mg/kg) potassium dichromate (PD). Rats were randomly divided into 6 groups treated daily for 14 days with green tea (600 mg/kg) and /or lycopene (4 mg/kg) as follow: Group I: Green tea control group received saline. Group II: Lycopene control group received corn oil. Group III: Rats injected s.c with PD and served as kidney damaged group. Group IV, V and VI: Rats received green tea, lycopene and its combination, respectively, before PD injection. Biochemical analysis were utilised for evaluation of the kidney damage such as: creatinine and urea in serum, total protein in urine, malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione contents as well as catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were determined in kidney tissue and finally histopathological study. Injection of PD to rats induced a marked renal failure, characterized with a significant increase in serum creatinine and urea as well as urine total protein. PD group had higher kidney malondialdehyde, lower reduced glutathione content and catalase activity. Pre-treatments with green tea extract and/or lycopene ameliorate kidney damage which reflect improvement of biochemical indices and histopathological study. Results from this study indicate that green tea extract alone or with lycopene might have protective effect against potassium dichromate-induced ARF and oxidative stress in rat more than lycopene alone.