Evaluation of the effect of vitamin D on acyclovir-induced renal injury in adult male albino rat

Abstract

Acyclovir (ACV) is a commonly used antiviral drug useful in the treatment of several viral infections. However, its clinical application is limited by severe nephrotoxicity. Vitamin D (VD) regulates cell growth, cell differentiation, and the immune system and prevents neoplastic transformation. Recent studies reported that vitamin D and its analogs have protective effects in renal dis-eases. The present study aimed to examine the protective effect of vitamin D on acyclovir-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. 40 adult male albino rats were divided into 4 groups. Group I (control group). Group ІІ animals received vita-min D intraperitoneally at a dose of 0.5 μg/kg per day for 10 days. Group ІІI animals received acyclovir intraperitoneally at a dose of 150 mg/kg per day for 10 days. Group ІV animals received vitamin D (0.5 μg/kg/day) and acyclo-vir (150 mg/kg/day) for 10 days. At the end of the experiment, the kidneys were removed, weighed, and sampled for histopathological, immunohisto-chemical, and biochemical studies. Vitamin D decreased elevated serum cre-atinine, blood urea nitrogen, renal malondialdehyde (MDA) and immunoex-pression of the proapoptotic protein (Bax) induced by ACV. It increased re-duced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dis-mutase (SOD), and immunoexpression of the antiapoptotic protein (Bcl2). It also ameliorated the morphological changes induced by ACV. ACV has ne-phrotoxic effects as indicated by biochemical, histological, and immunohisto-chemical alterations. VD was found to have protective effects against ACV-induced nephrotoxicity through the improvement of kidney function, and histopathological changes in rat kidney.