Cytoprotective effect of vitamin C against gentamicin-induced acute kidney injury in rats

Since gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity has very important clinical consequences, different potentially therapeutic approaches to prevent or attenuate it have been proposed.Accordingly, this study aimed at determining the possible protective effects of vitamin C against gentamicin-associated acute kidney injury.Experiments were done on 40 adult Wistar rats divided into four groups of 10 animals each. G-group received gentamicin (100 mg/kg) while GVC-group received the same dose of gentamicin and vitamin C (200 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injections on a daily basis. Animals in VC-group, serving as a positive control, received only vitamin C (200 mg/kg), and those in C-group, serving as a negative control, received saline (1 ml/day), both given intraperitoneally. All groups were treated during 8 consecutive days.Quantitative evaluation of gentamicin-induced structural alterations and degree of functional alterations of kidney were performed by histopathological, morphometrical and biochemical analyses in order to determine potential beneficial effects of vitamin C co-administration with gentamicin.In G-group the proximal convoluted tubules showed cytoplasm vacuolation with dark inclusions in the epithelial cells and coagulation-type necrosis, while in GVC-group necrosis was not observed. The glomerular basement membrane was significantly thickened (p < 0.05) in G-group animals than in other groups. Nuclear optical density of the tubular epithelial cells in GVC-group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared to G-group. Blood urea and serum creatinine concentration were significantly elevated, while potassium concentration was lowered in G-group compared to other groups (p < 0.01 for each).Concomitant administration of gentamicin and vitamin C resulted in a significant reduction of morphological and functional kidney alterations.