lack of nephroprotective effi cacy of althaea offi cinalis flower extract against gentamicin renal toxicity in male rats

background: gentamicin (gm) is used as antibiotic for gram-negative infections, but its administration is limited due to a side-effect of nephrotoxicity. it was attempted to investigate the effect of althaea officinalis flower extract (aofe) against nephrotoxicity induced by gm in male rats. methods: 30-year-old male wistar rats were divided into five groups. group 1 as a negative control group received aofe 250 mg/kg/day. groups 2-5 received saline, aofe 50 mg/kg/day, aofe 250 mg/kg/day, and aofe 500 mg/kg/day for 9 days, respectively, and gm (100 mg/kg/day) was added from the 3rd day on. at the end of the experiment, blood samples were obtained, animals were sacrificed, and the kidneys were removed immediately. results: gentamicin (in group 2) significantly increased serum levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine as well as the pathological damage score ( p < 0.05) when compared with group 1. low dose of aofe did not decrease the nephrotoxicity induced by gm while the high dose of aofe aggravated renal toxicity ( p < 0.05). conclusions: although aofe acts as an antioxidant, at the doses used in the current study did not ameliorate nephrotoxicity induced by gm.