Protective Effects of Vitamin C and L-Carnitine on Moxifloxacin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats

Abstract

Moxifloxacin is an essential clinically relevant fluoroquinolone antibiotic that is employed against a great variety of bacterial infections. Nevertheless, its use in clinical practice is linked to nephrotoxicity that is a severe adverse outcome that involves oxidative stress pathways. This paper sought to compare the ameliorative property of two strong antioxidants, Vitamin C and L-Carnitine, to moxifloxacin induced renal injury on a male albino rat model. The rat population was randomly divided into four groups of ten (i.e. a control group, a group treated with moxifloxacin (80 mg/kg), a group treated with moxifloxacin and Vitamin C (500 mg/kg) and a group treated with moxifloxacin and L-Carnitine (600 mg/kg). All therapies were taken in the form of gavage every day and in 30 days. To evaluate the renal damage, the serum urea and creatinine levels were measured, and kidney tissues were examined histopathologically to observe structural changes in tissues. The findings revealed that the serum levels of urea and creatinine were highly increased in moxifloxacin treated rats in isolation of the control group and signified poor kidney functioning. Histopathological analysis showed severe renal injury, such as shrinkage of the glomeruli, tubular necrosis, inflammation of the tissue by cells and cytoarchitectural degeneration. Inflammation and cellular injury were measured using systematic histopathological scoring of tissue sections to measure glomerular integrity, extent tubular necrosis, intensity of inflammatory infiltration and general structural preservation. On the other hand, the serum urea and creatinine levels and the histopathological injury scores in groups co-treated with Vitamin C or L-Carnitine were significantly lower and the levels were much lower as well. The glomerular and tubular organization of the kidney tissues of antioxidant-treated groups was better and the inflammation and cellular damage were significantly lower. This paper proves that moxifloxacin causes acute nephrotoxicity, and the process occurs via oxidative stress. Vitamin C or L-Carnitine co-administration has a significant effect in curing renal biochemical dysfunction and histopathological damage. The results indicate the possibility of the clinical use of antioxidant supplementation as a preventive measure against nephropathy induced by moxifloxacin.