An investigation of the protective effect of berberine on vancomycin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

Title: An Investigation of The Protective Effect of Berberine on Vancomycin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats Introduction: One limitation of vancomycin use is its nephrotoxicity due to the high doses of vancomycin used to treat resistant infections. Berberine is a natural product with a broad pharmacological activity including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential effects. The reno-protective effect of BBR has been investigated against nephrotoxicity induced by VCM. Objective: biomarkers including Cr, BUN, KIM-1, SOD, MDA, IL-6, TNF-α, Bcl-2 and CAS-9 have been evaluated. Additionally, histological methods have been used. In this investigation, we have aimed to study the potential reno-protective effect of BBR against nephrotoxicity induced by VCM in wistar albino rats. Methods: In this study, 35 adult male Wistar Albino rats were randomly assigned into five groups, each containing seven rats. The control group received oral normal saline SF for eight days and SF intraperitoneally for seven days. The other groups were administered VCM dissolved in SF for seven days intraperitoneally. BBR was given by oral gavage for eight days, starting one day before the VCM administration. Three different doses of BBR (50mg/kg, 100mg/kg, and 200mg/kg) were used in the other groups. Result: The findings of the current investigation indicate that the administration of VCM has led to nephrotoxicity, as evidenced by elevated levels of inflammation and oxidative stress biomarkers, as well as significant histological damage. In addition, a minor increase of apoptosis biomarkers has been noted. However, VCM has showed insignificant apoptotic related kidney damage. The administration of BBR has shown the potential improvement of the oxidative stress and inflammation significantly and the reduction of apoptosis has not been significant. Conclusion: Our results have showed that BBR might has the potential to reduce the nephrotoxicity induced by the intraperitoneal administration of VCM at the dose of 400 mg/kg for seven days in male rats. Keywords: Vancomycin (VCM), Berberine (BBR), Nephrotoxicity, Rat