The effect of Aqueous Purslane (Portulaca Oleracea) Extract on Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rat

According to the previous studies Portulaca oleracea (PO) has antioxidative effects and several factors such as oxidative stress is involved in the renal injury caused by ischemia - reperfusion (I/R). Therefore, the goal of present study is to evaluate the renal I/R injury in rats received aqueous extracts of PO (AEPO). First, the right nephrectomy was performed in adult male Wistar rats and after 20 days they were divided into 5 groups (6=n). Sham operated+vehicle (sham), sham operated+ AEPO300mg/kg (AEPO group), I/R, AEPO150+I/R and AEPO300+I/R. Each group was treated orally for 5 consecutive days by 150 or 300 mg/kg of either AEPO or saline. On the fifth day of treatment, I/R (45 min ischemia/24 hours reperfusion) or sham operation was performed on the left kidney and amounts of urea and creatinine in serum and malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant activity (TAA) in the kidney tissue were measured. Comparisons between groups were analyzed by ANOVA and LSD test. P values of 0.05 or less were considered statistically significant. Induction of I/R increased urea and creatinine levels. AEPO had no effect on serum urea and creatinine, of non-ischemic animals, but increased the levels of urea and creatinine in I/R and treatment groups. SOD activity was significantly higher in all groups (except AEPO300 group) compared to the sham group. However the levels of MDA, GSH and TAA of I/R and treatment groups did not show any significant differences in comparison to sham group. According to the results of this study, the PO aqueous extract did not ameliorate the I/R injury and even possibly some ingredients in the extract aggravate the renal I/R injury.