Ginger, the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, is a common condiment for various foods and beverages. Ginger has a long history of medicinal use dating back to 2500 years. One ml of an aqueous extract of ginger 120 mg/ml was orally given to male rats, every other day, to evaluate its nephroprotective effect against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Treatment with three consecutive injections of 10 mg/kg of cisplatin caused significant body weight loss, elevation in serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine levels. These changes were markedly attenuated in the rats protected with ginger before treatment with cisplatin. The applied dose of cisplatin caused marked histopathological renal alterations such as damage in Malpighian corpuscles, necrosis in the epithelia of the renal tubules, leucocytic infiltration, and increased the immunohistochemical expression of Bax proapoptotic protein. In the combined treatment, an improvement occurred in both histopathological observation and immunohistochemical investigation of Bax proapoptotic protein.
Key words: Ginger, cisplatin-nephrotoxicity, immunohistochemistry, BUN, creatinine
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