Protective effect of ethanolic extract of Elettaria Cardamomum against gentamicin hepato-renal toxicity in male albino rats

OBJECTIVE: Cardamom is one of the spices containing a wide range of an-tioxidants and is used in medicinal prepara-tions. Thus, in this study, we want to explore the protective effect of ethanolic cardamom extract on the liver-kidney toxicity caused by gentamicin in male albino rats.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The exper-iment was applied to twenty-eight male albi-no rats divided randomly into four groups. The control group was given 1 ml/kg of saline orally. The gentamicin (GM) group was giv-en a daily 80 mg/kg i.p of GM for seven days. Another group was given 100 or 200 mg/kg b.wt. p.o. ethanolic extract of Elettaria Carda-mom um (EC) for seven days. Blood and liv-er-kidney samples were taken after the end of the study for analyses to test for liver-kidney function and lipid profile (LP). RESULTS: Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and bili-rubin activities were higher in the GM group than in the control group. However, the groups' differences in globulin levels and total protein (TP) were not statistically sig-nificant. Compared to the control group, the albumin level in the gentamicin group was considerably lower. On the other hand, cre-atinine and urea levels, lipid, serum total cholesterol levels, and high-density lipopro-tein (HDL) significantly increased in the gen-tamicin group but decreased in the control group and co-treated groups with gentami-cin and ethanolic extract EC. Low-density li-poprotein (LDL) significantly dropped, while the control group showed high levels of lipid and serum total cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: EC ethanolic extract shields the liver-kidney against GM harmful effects in male rats. Recent research demonstrated that the effects of the plant cardamom were the same at both low-high doses. The phe-nolic elements in EC may be responsible for this protective effect.