General Physiology and Biophysics Vol.32, No.4, p.577-588, 2013

The purpose of this study was to assess the possible protective effects of Artemisia campestris against fenthion (FEN)-induced nephrotoxicity in adult rats and their progeny. FEN was administered orally at a dose of 551 ppm, which represented ¼ of LD50, for 21 consecutive days to pregnant and lactating rats. Oxidative stress was monitored in the kidney by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) and GSH levels and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase activities (GPx).

FEN caused a significant induction of oxidative damage in kidney as evidenced by increased MDA levels from 5.32 ± 0.47 nmol/ 100 mg tissue to 11.72 ± 0.83 nmol/ 100 mg tissue for pups and from 5.18 ± 0.45 nmol/ 100 mg tissue to 10.84 ± 1.67 nmol/ 100 mg tissue for dams (p < 0.001).

A significant increase (p < 0.001) in the activities of SOD, CAT and GPx was observed.

Co-administration of A. campestris at a dose of 5% (w/w) in the diet of FEN-treated rats showed a significant reno-protection against FEN-induced cytotoxic effects. It could be concluded that A. campestris is promising as a protective agent against nephrotoxicity during the exposure to fenthion.