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Nephroprotective property of Trifolium repens leaf extract against paracetamol-induced kidney damage in mice

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Abstract

Paracetamol-induced toxicity is one of the major drawbacks in the treatment of inflammatory conditions. The present study was performed to find out the impacts of phenolic compounds in the Trifolium repens (white clover) leaves (TR) against the paracetamol-induced nephrotoxicity in mice. The extract was administered orally to mice in different doses (1, 2, and 3 mL having a dry mass of 11.0 mg/mL) along with paracetamol (300 mg/kg) alone or in combination. Kidney histology, serum renal function tests, serum electrolytes, reduced glutathione, and lipid peroxidation were evaluated. Paracetamol significantly affected kidney weight, renal profile biochemistry, serum electrolytes, reduced glutathione, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (as lipid peroxidation) in mice. The amount of total phenolic compounds identified in the extract was 8.89 mg/g, representing 80.8% of the extract. The simultaneous administration of the TR extract leads to the normalization of all those parameters, which were deviated due to paracetamol ingestion. Kidney histological examination showed that nephrotoxicity was induced due to paracetamol, while the extract rich in phenolic compounds acts as therapeutic agents. The administration of extract also normalized the reduced glutathione from 0.837 to 2.21 of the paracetamol and paracetamol with 3-mL extract, respectively. Lipid peroxidation in the kidney was significantly (p < 0.05) declined by the extract (0.435 µmol/g) as compared to PC (3.96 µmol/g). In conclusion, TR extract possesses active beneficial phenolic compounds with nephroprotective function.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful of Dr. Muhammad Asif Khattak, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Gajju Khan Medical College Swabi for correct interpretation of histological slides.

Funding

No direct funding was received for this work. However, the facilities used were from project No. 2344 of kindly supported by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Sultan Ahmad & Alam Zeb

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Alam Zeb

Authors
  1. Sultan Ahmad
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  2. Alam Zeb
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Contributions

SA collected samples of TR; AZ, design experiments and analyzed the samples; SA did all the other experiments; SA and AZ wrote the paper collectively.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alam Zeb.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The study was carried out under the approval of Graduate studies committee of the Department of Biotechnology, for the proper care and experimentation of the animals and was finally approved by the advanced study and research board (ASRB) of the University of Malakand.

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Ahmad, S., Zeb, A. Nephroprotective property of Trifolium repens leaf extract against paracetamol-induced kidney damage in mice. 3 Biotech 10, 541 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-020-02539-0

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