Kidney is an essential organ that performs many important functions, including maintenance of homeostasis, regulation of the extracellular environment such as detoxification, and excretion of toxic metabolites and drugs (Ferguson, Vaidya, & Bonventre, 2008; Kim & Moon, 2012). Therefore, the kidney can be considered as the main target organ for exogenous toxic substances. It not only has a rich blood supply that takes 25% of cardiac output, but also helps to remove these toxins through glomerular filtration and tubular secretion (Patel Manali, Deshpande, & Shah, 2011). Kidneys are prone to drug-induced damage due to this high relative blood flow. Gentamicin, an aminoglycoside-type antibiotic, is one of the main causes of drug-induced nephrotoxicity.
Nephrotoxicity is a kidney-specific feature in which excretion does not go smoothly due to toxic chemicals or drugs (Finn & Porter, 2003; Galley, 2000; Kim & Moon, 2012). Serum urea and creatinine levels are considered traditional biomarkers of nephrotoxicity and renal dysfunction (Al-Naimi, Rasheed, Hussien, Al-Kuraishy, & Al-Gareeb, 2019). In many studies, creatinine and urea levels were found to increase in animals treated with GM (Ataman, Mert, Yıldırım, & Mert, 2018; Botros, Matouk, Anter, Khalifa, & Heeba, 2022; Erseckin, Mert, İrak, Yildirim, & Mert, 2022; Sarwar et al., 2022; Yilmaz, 2014). Adefegha et al. (Adefegha et al., 2015) suggested that the elevated urea, uric acid and creatinine levels, which were in Cd-induced nephrotoxicity, were also decreased due to the renal protective effect of PCA. In this study, it was determined that the serum urea and creatinine levels increased in animals in the GM group, and decreased with the administration of PCA (p < 0.001), which indicates an improvement in kidney functions. Indeed, in the histopathological examination of the kidney tissues of the GM group, severe hydropic degeneration and necrosis of the renal tubular epithelium and moderate atrophy of the glomeruli were observed, while in the GM + PCA group, necrosis of the tubular epithelium and atrophy of the glomeruli weren’t observed. In addition, according to immunohistochemical findings, 8-OHdG expression in kidney cells was decreased with PCA administration.
Kidneys have a very important role in regulating body fluid and electrolyte balance, therefore, when kidney failure develops, disturbances in fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance may occur. Kidney diseases are often associated with hypervolemia, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, hyponatremia, hypermagnesemia, and metabolic acidosis. The severity of these electrolyte disturbances reflects the catabolic state of the patient and the degree of kidney damage (ÇALIŞKAN & YILDIZ, 2010; Medineli, Mert, İrak, & Mert, 2021).
Changes in urinary excretion of some ions are observed in renal damage after treatment with gentamicin. The decrease in the activity of Na, K-ATPase in the proximal tubules in rats given GM may be due to GM-induced nephrotoxicity. Because, this enzyme is responsible for regulating intracellular electrolyte and cell volume transport (Ali, 1995). It has been reported that aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity causes a decrease in serum potassium levels in experimental animals and humans (Cronin & Thompson, 1991; Silan et al., 2007). In addition, glomerular dysfunction due to GM has been associated with increased sodium levels in plasma (Cuzzocrea et al., 2002) Medineli et al. (Medineli et al., 2021) found that Na and K levels did not change and Cl levels increased in the rat group treated only with GM compared to controls. Noorani et al. (Noorani, Gupta, Bhadada, & Kale, 2011) also found that serum Na level changes in rats in nephrotoxicity caused by gentamicin were insignificant compared to controls, and potassium and chlorine levels were higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Yilmaz et al. (Yilmaz, 2014) on the other hand, found that Na and K levels increased in the GM group compared to the controls, but it was not significant, and the Cl level did not change. In this study, serum Na, K and Cl levels were examined. There was no statistical significance between the groups in terms of serum Na, K and Cl levels. Despite changes in renal electrolyte distribution with GM administration to animals, changes in plasma electrolytes induced by aminoglycosides have occasionally been observed. This may be due to the presence of excess electrolytes in standard feeds for laboratory animals or the absence of other factors that predispose to electrolyte imbalance(Bach & Lock, 2012).
Details on the mechanisms of GM-induced nephrotoxicity are still not completely known. Various mechanisms such as oxidative stress, apoptosis, tubular necrosis, phospholipidosis, increased endothelin I and leukocyte infiltrations have been suggested by different studies(Ahmadvand, Nouryazdan, Nasri, Adibhesami, & Babaeenezhad, 2020; Balakumar et al., 2008; Lopez-Novoa, Quiros, Vicente, Morales, & Lopez-Hernandez, 2011). GM is absorbed by renal tubular cells via the anion transport system. GM accumulation in these cells ultimately leads to morphological changes, functional impairments, and an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in the kidney (Ahmadvand et al., 2020; Balakumar et al., 2008). During nephrotoxicity, these free radicals promote the inflammatory process, apoptosis, and necrosis (Ahmadvand et al., 2020; Lopez-Novoa et al., 2011). Free radicals also suppress the renal antioxidant system through protein oxidation (Sener et al., 2002) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) (Nitha & Janardhanan, 2008).
Since oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, modulating the cellular redox state by enhancing endogenous antioxidant defenses may be an effective mechanism in the prevention of the disease. In this context, dietary polyphenols generally act as antioxidant compounds, albeit to varying degrees. Polyphenols exert indirect antioxidant effects through the induction of genes involved in the endogenous defense system (Masella et al., 2004; Varì et al., 2011). The endogenous defense system, consisting of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase, and non-enzymatic antioxidants such as GSH, plays an important role in protecting cells against oxidative damage caused by electrophiles and reactive oxidants (Varì et al., 2011). PCA showed a particularly high capacity to induce gene expression of antioxidant enzymes. In a study using the macrophage cell line J774 A.1, it was found that PCA increased the expression of GPx and GR, mainly by inducing JNK-mediated phosphorylation of the transcription factor Nrf2, which is the main regulator of antioxidant/detoxification (Varì et al., 2011). Again, PCA has been shown to mediate hepatoprotection by increasing SOD, CAT, GST and NQO-1 activities via Akt and PI3K (Ibitoye & Ajiboye, 2020).
It has been shown that the antioxidant potential of PCA is ten times greater than that of α-tocopherol (Song et al., 2020). PCA gives the hydroxyl groups in its chemical structure as a hydrogen atom donor for the reduction of peroxyl radicals, stopping their harmful effects on the cellular membrane and cellular components (Owumi, Ajijola, & Agbeti, 2019). PCA; in addition to stimulating the activities of endogenous antioxidant enzymes such as CAT, SOD, GST, GR and GPx, they also reduce ROS and MDA levels (Li et al., 2021; Song et al., 2020). In PCA-mediated hepatorenal protection, the level of GSH rises significantly and thus increases the bioavailability of cellular GSH to scavenge the produced free radicals (Kassab et al., 2022; Owumi et al., 2019).
Masella et al. (Masella et al., 2004) found that extra virgin olive oil biophenols, namely PCA and oleuropein, completely prevent J774 A.1-mediated oxidation of LDL, inhibit O2•- and H2O2 production and decrease in GSH content, thereby neutralizing time-dependent variations in intracellular redox balance, re-regulated GR and GPx activities, thereby restoring mRNA expression of γGCS, GR and GPx to control values. They reported that activation of mRNA transcription of GSH-related enzymes represents an important mechanism in the phenolic antioxidative effect. Again, recent studies strongly suggest that dietary polyphenols can stimulate antioxidant transcription and detoxification defense systems through antioxidant responsive elements (ARE) (Masella, Di Benedetto, Varì, Filesi, & Giovannini, 2005).
In this study, MDA and AOPP levels were examined as oxidative stress parameters. It was determined that the MDA and AOPP levels, which were increased in the GM group, decreased significantly with the administration of PCA. The fact that the obtained values are even lower than the control group can be interpreted as the fact that PCA behaves like an antioxidant compound due to its chemical structure. Because; the antioxidant capacity of a phenolic compound depends on some factors such as the structure of the phenolic compound, the number of aromatic and hydroxyl groups in its structure, and the distribution of these groups within the structure (Adefegha et al., 2015; Balasundram, Sundram, & Samman, 2006). Again in this study, the decreased GSH level and antioxidant enzyme GPx activity in the GM group increased significantly with the administration of PCA (p < 0.05). It can be said that PCA increases the bioavailability of GSH (Kassab et al., 2022; Owumi et al., 2019) and induces antioxidant enzyme synthesis by increasing GPx activity. Indeed, modulatory effects of PCA on GSH-related enzymes have been identified in previous in vitro studies(Masella et al., 2004).
In conclusion; in this study, the protective effect of PCA on GM-induced nephrotoxicity was investigated. In GM-induced nephrotoxicity, PCA prevented lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, increased GSH level and GPx activity, and according to histopathological and immunohistochemical findings, it prevented necrosis in tubular epithelium, atrophy in glomerulus and decreased 8-OHdG expression. With this study, it was emphasized once again that PCA is a good antioxidant agent and it can be said that PCA has a protective effect in nephrotoxicity induced by GM.