Protective roles of Pyracantha fortuneana extract on acute renal toxicity induced by cadmium chloride in rats

PURPOSE: To investigate the protective roles of pyracantha fortune fruit extract (PFE) on acute renal toxicity induced by cadmium chloride (CdCl(2)) in rats. METHODS: Rats were pretreated with PFE and consecutively injected with CdCl(2) (6.5 mg/kg) for 5 days. RESULTS: The concentration of Cd, kidney weight, malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) production were remarkably increased in CdCl(2) group as well as the levels of plasma uric acid, urea, and creatinine (P < 0.001). However, the body weight and glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione peroxidase (GR) levels were markedly reduced by CdCl(2) treatment (P < 0.001). Histological manifestations of renal tissue showed severely adverse changes. Moreover, CdCl(2) treatment significantly decreased the B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) expression while increased the Bcl-2-Associated X Protein (Bax), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression (P < 0.001). Additionally, the expression of Nrf2/Keap 1 related proteins Keap-1 gained a significant increase (P < 0.001), whereas the Nrf2, HO-1, γ-GCS, GSH-Px and NQO1 expression decreased by CdCl(2) treatment (P < 0.05). These rats were pretreated with PFE to improve the changes caused by CdCl(2) treatment. CONCLUSION: PFE could protect the kidney against acute renal toxicity induced by CdCl(2).