Protective Effect of Camel Milk on Gentamicin-induced Nephrotoxicity: From Renal Biomarkers to Histopathology Evidence

BACKGROUND: Gentamicin is an effective antibiotic with some important side effects, such as nephrotoxicity. There is evidence of renoprotective effects and antioxidant properties for camel milk. OBJECTIVES: In this study, the impact of camel milk on the nephrotoxicity induced by gentamicin was evaluated. METHODS: The present study was performed on four groups of six Wistar rats. Group 1(C), as the control group, received exclusively normal saline injections and the rats in group 2 (GM) received intraperitoneal gentamicin injections at the dose of 100 mg/kg for the last ten days. The animals in group 3 (CM) were fed by 5 mL/rat/day of camel milk through gavage for 15 days. Group 4 (MGM) was fed camel milk only for the first five days followed by gentamicin injections for 10 days. Serum urea, creatinine, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured and kidneys were studied histopathologically. RESULTS: Increased concentrations of urea and creatinine along with the decreased level of SOD were found in the GM group. Histopathologic changes, such as eosinophilic casts in the tubular lumen, capillary congestion, glomerulonephritis, necrosis, interstitial nephritis, and edema were more common in the GM group, in comparison with the C, CM, and MGM groups (P 0.05). The elevations in serum urea and creatinine (P 0.05) were significantly prevented by the co-administration of camel milk and gentamicin. Moreover, a significant increase in the serum activity of SOD was revealed in the GM group (P 0.05). Camel milk significantly prevented tissue injury, in comparison with the GM group (P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that gentamicin-induced histological and biochemical alterations in the kidney decreased significantly due to camel milk consumption.