The toxicity of gentamicin (GEN) in the kidney seems to relate to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has been demonstrated to have antioxidant, free radical scavenger and anti-inflammatory effects. It has been proposed that antioxidant maintain the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) may restore the cellular defense mechanisms and block lipid peroxidation thus protect against the toxicity of wide variety of nephrotoxic chemicals. We investigated the effects of CAPE on GEN-induced changes in renal malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product, nitric oxide (NO) generation, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities, GSH content, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Cr) levels. Morphological changes in the kidney were also examined.
A total of 32 rats were equally divided into four groups which were: (1) control, (2) injected with intraperitoneally (i.p.) GEN, (3) injected with i.p. GEN + CAPE and (4) injected with i.p. CAPE.