Possible protective role of palm oil and beef liver on the kidney and liver of wistar albino rats fed diesel-contaminated diet.

Abstract

We investigated the effects of eight weeks of a diesel-contaminated diet on liver and kidney of Wistar Albino rats, as well as the possible protective role of palm oil and beef liver. There was a significant increase in serum activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of rats fed with dieselcontaminated diet compared with the controls, indicating damage to the liver. Rats fed with diesel- contaminated diets also exhibited a significant increase in serum urea and creatinine, indicating kidney damage. While there was a significant reduction in the activities of serum ALT and AST, as well as serum urea and creatinine in rats fed palm oil-pretreated diesel-contaminated diet, rats fed with beef liver-pretreated diesel-contaminated diet showed no significant decrease in serum ALT, AST, urea and creatinine as compared to those fed with diesel-contaminated diets. Histological examination of the kidney and liver revealed severe degenerative changes in the structural integrity of both hepatic and renal cells of rats fed with diesel-contaminated diets as compared to those of the controls and palm oil-pretreated diets. However, pretreatment of the diesel-contaminated diet with palm oil conferred some protection on both renal and hepatic cells. These observations may therefore suggest that palm oil may play a protective role against diesel-induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.