Effects of Kangshen Oral Liquid on Gentamicin-induced Acute Kidney Injury in Rats

Purpose: To investigate the effects of Kangshen oral liquid (KSOL) on gentamicin sulfate (GS)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in rats.
Methods: The rats were randomly divided into seven groups and treated with normal saline (NS), GS, furosemide, uremic clearance granule, or one of three different doses of KSOL. Several AKI-related indices were monitored, including renal index (RI), urine protein (UP) level, B-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity in the urine, serum creatinine (SCr) level, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level in the serum, malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the kidney tissue. Histopathological changes in the kidney tissue of each group were monitored using light microscopy.
Results: After treatment with KSOL (20, 10, or 5 mL/kg), the RI, activity of NAG and levels of UP, SCr, BUN, and MDA were significantly decreased by 6.66 - 41.47 %, and the activity of SOD was significantly increased by 15.85 - 20.27 %, compared with the GS group (p < 0.05 or 0.01). The histopathological studies showed that KSOL notably improved GS-induced atrophy of the glomeruli, lymphocytic infiltration in the interstitium of the cortex, protein deposits in the collecting tubules, and hyperemia of the renal interstitium.
Conclusion: KSOL improves GS-induced AKI at biochemical and histopathological levels, and thus has a potential to be developed into a therapeutic drug for AKI.

Keywords
Kangshen oral liquid; Gentamicin; Acute kidney injury; Furosemide; Uremic clearance granule; Biochemical parameters