Cisplatin nephrotoxicity and protection by milk thistle extract in rats.

The protective effect of methanolic extract of milk thistle seeds and silymarin against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in male rats after a single intraperitoneal injection of 3 mg kg cisplatin were studied. Over 5 days, cisplatin-treated rats showed tubular necrosis and elevation in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Scr). Pretreatment of animals with silymarin (50 mg kg) or extract (0.6 g kg) 2 h before cisplatin prevented the tubular damage. Rats treated with silymarin or extract 2 h after cisplatin had BUN and Scr significantly lower than those receiving cisplatin, but mild to moderate necrosis was observed. These results suggested that milk thistle may protect against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity and might serve as a novel combination agent with cisplatin to limit renal injury.

Karimi G, Ramezani M, Tahoonian Z.

Department of Pharmacodynamy and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad, Iran. gho_karimi@yahoo.com

PMID: 16136217 [PubMed]