Betulinic Acid Modulates Dimethylamine-Induced Renal Injury in Male Wistar Rats

Dimethylamine (DMA) is a water-soluble basic (pKa=10.73) secondary aliphatic amine. DMA is a common degradation product of trimethylamine oxide, an end product of nitrogen metabolism in fish. At sufficiently high exposure duration, DMA caused severe nasal and lung lesions, irritation of the eyes, skin and respiratory tract in human and animals that was manifested as mild lesion in the nasal mucosa and occasionally lesion of the liver, kidneys, and testes. Betulinic Acid (BA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic lupane-type triterpenoid which exhibits varieties of medicinal properties such as anti-cancer activities, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) etc and is widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of betulinic acid on dimethylamine through the estimation of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in kidneys, as well as level of urea and creatinine in both serum and kidneys and the effects of betulinic acid on the histopathology.

Twenty adult male wistar rats were used for this study which was equally divided into four groups. Group A (control) were fed with normal feed and distilled water, Group B (administered with BA 25 mg/kg body weight), Group C (administered with DMA 5 mg/kg body weight), and Group D (administered with BA 25 mg/kg body weight and DMA 5 mg/kg body weight). BA was given by oral gavage for 14 consecutive days, while DMA was administered intra peritoneal on days 7 and 12. After the expiration of the experimental period, the blood samples of the animals were collected by ocular bleeding. The sera and the kidneys of the experimental animals were separated and used to determine the level of urea and creatinine, estimation of reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels. Also, the kidneys were prepared for histopathological analysis. The data presented in this study shows clearly that DMA significantly (p<0.05) elevated the renal urea, creatinine and malondialdehyde level. These findings suggest that BA was able to protect the kidney from the effects of DMA treatment.