Nephroprotective Effect of the Methanolic Fruit Extract of Musa balbisiana Colla against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Toxicity in Swiss Albino Mice

Abstract

Renal failure is the loss of renal functions owing to multiple factors, including oxidative stress, and it is a global concern, as it costs millions of lives every year. Carbon tetrachloride is a standard toxicant exploited to induce nephrotoxicity in experimental animals to study oxidative stress-related renal injury. This study was conducted to determine the nephroprotective activity of a methanolic extract derived from the unripe fruit pulp of Musa balbisiana Colla (MBME) in carbon tetrachloride-induced toxicity in Swiss albino mice. Multiple groups of mice were treated with a single dose of carbon tetrachloride (1-mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally once in a week followed by oral administration of the methanolic fruit extract of M. balbisiana Colla (MBME) at two different doses (200 and 400 mg/kg body weight) consecutively for 28 days. Treatment with carbon tetrachloride reduced body weight along with enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in the renal tissue, elevated kidney weight, renal biomarkers, lipid peroxidation, IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β levels in the blood serum, impaired antioxidant system and up-regulated TGF-β expression in the kidney tissue, and brought histological changes in the architecture of renal tissues. Our data revealed that the oral administration of the methanolic fruit extract of M. balbisiana Colla (MBME) dose wisely restored kidney and body weight, renal biomarkers, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in the renal tissue, reduced lipid peroxidation, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) levels in the blood serum, re-established antioxidant system and down-regulated TGF-β expression in the kidney tissue, and re-established the architecture of renal tissues. Thus, this study reported the nephroprotective effects of methanolic fruit extract of M. balbisiana Colla (MBME) in carbon tetrachloride-induced toxicity in Swiss albino mice through possible antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.