Protective effects of royal jelly and Echinacea against moxifloxacin-induced renal and hepatic injury in rats

Abstract

Antibiotic use, especially fluoroquinolones, has been linked to extensive renal and hepatic injury thus inflicts a considerable health problem. Fifty rats were allocated into five groups (n = 10). Group 1 represented the normal-control group. Group 2 received moxifloxacin only (MOX; 8 mg/kg/day, i.p.) for seven days and represented the MOX-control group. Groups 3, 4, and 5 received MOX for seven days accompanied by royal jelly (RJ; 100 mg/kg/day, p.o.), Echinacea (ECH; 40 mg/kg/day, p.o.), and a combination of both at the aforementioned doses respectively for 30 days. All groups were investigated for renal and hepatic function tests. Renal tissue content of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) along with renal and hepatic tissue contents of reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were assessed for all groups. Histopathological examination was performed followed by immunohistochemical staining for caspase-3 in renal and hepatic tissues. MOX administration resulted in significant renal and hepatic damage. RJ and ECH significantly improved the serum parameters of renal and hepatic functions along with increasing GSH and decreasing MDA in renal and hepatic tissues. Renal contents of KIM-1 were also reduced. Moreover, RJ, ECH, and their combination amended MOX-induced histopathological changes and significantly reduced caspase-3 immunohistochemical staining in both renal and hepatic tissues. The current study is the first to elucidate the effect of RJ, ECH, and their combination against MOX-induced renal and hepatic injury in rats. The study suggests that these protective effects are mainly via the reduction of oxidative stress induced by MOX administration.

Keywords:

• Royal jelly
• Echinacea
• moxifloxacin
• renal injury
• hepatic injury
• rats

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Rasha E. Mostafa and Rasha M. Allam. All histopathological and immunohistochemical experiments were conducted by Nermeen M. Shaffie. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Rasha E. Mostafa and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.