Protective Effect of Vitamin E and N-Nitro L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) on Cigarette Induced Kidney Damage

The Cigarette is a material obtained from the leaves of a tobacco plant and believed to be comforting by many people. Cigarette components are known to have adverse effects on renal function because of oxidative stress exposure. Vitamin E is known to be an important antioxidant that protects the organism with various mechanisms and prevents damage at the cellular dimension. L-NAME inhibits nitric oxide (NO) synthase, reducing NO formation and contributing to the reduction of oxidative damage induced by reactive species. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of cigarette exposure on rat kidneys and protective effect of vitamin E and L-NAME. For this purpose, Forty five male albino rats were divided into five groups: control, cigarette, cigarette + vitamin E, cigarette + L-NAME, cigarette + vitamin E + L-NAME. The rats were exposed to cigarette smoke by inhalation in special cages and 200 mg/kg BW Vitamin E and/or 50 mg/kg BW L-NAME administered intraperitoneal for 42 days. These procedures were applied every day. At the end of the 42nd day, the kidney tissues and blood of rats were taken for biochemical and histological analysis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) measurements were performed on the kidney tissue homogenate, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured in the rat serum. While serum creatinine, BUN and tissue MDA levels significantly increased, GSH levels and CAT activity decreased significantly in cigarette-exposed rats. Serum creatinine, BUN, MDA, GSH and CAT levels were normalized in the treatment groups (p<0.05). Histological examinations showed that there was improvement in the treatment groups. It has been observed that kidney damage resulting from cigarette-exposure can be eliminated by the use of vitamin E and L-NAME