Kidney Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress in Doxorubicin-induced Nephrotic Rat: Protective Role of Sesame Oil

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an antineoplastic agent which it's clinical use has been limited due to its major side effects including cardiotoxicity and nephrotic syndrome. Sesame oil (SO) is an important edible oil with many pharmacologic effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of SO against DOX-induced nephropathy in the rat. In this study, two doses of SO (3 and 6 mL/kg) were administrated orally for six consecutive weeks and DOX (mg/kg) was intravenously injected on the 4 day of the experiment. Blood and urine samples were collected on days 1, 14, 30, and 42 for subsequent measurement of biochemical parameters. The left kidneys were removed for subsequent assessment of total thiol content, malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, and renal activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes. DOX caused significant proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and hyperlipidemia compared to control group. Significant decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities and total thiol contents and significant increase in MDA levels were also observed following DOX injection when compared to control group. Oral administration of SO significantly reversed DOX-induced proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and hyperlipidemia compared to DOX group. Furthermore, compared to DOX group, SO significantly increased total thiols content. MDA concentration significantly decreased following SO administration when compared to DOX group. The current study suggests that SO is able to improve kidney function as well as kidney tissue oxidative damage in DOX-induced nephrotic the rat.