Cyclophosphamide Induced Histologial and Immunohistochemical Alterations in Kidney of Albino Rats: The Ameliorative Effect of Fennel Oil

Cyclophosphamide (CPA) is a nitrogen mustard alkylating agent from the oxazaphosphorine group. It is used as an anticancer, anti-neoplastic agents and immunosuppressive agent widely used in chemotherapy. Fennel oil is traditionally used as a treatment for different diseases. The present work studied the effect of Fennel oil on CPA-induced nephrotoxicity in albino rats. Male albino rats were divided into 4 groups; gp1; control, gp2: Each rat was orally given Fennel oil (1 ml/kg body weight once a week for six weeks), gp3: animals were each orally treated with CPA at a dose of 15mg/kg body weight once a week for six weeks, gp4: CPA plus Fennel oil treated group. The obtained results showed that CPA induced histopathological alterations in the kidney including intertubular leucocytic infiltrations,congestion of blood vessels, degeneration of renal tubules and atrophy of glomeruli. Immunohistochemical observations revealed increase in expression of PCNA, caspase-3 and α -SMA. In addition, creatinine and urea levels increased in sera of treated rats. Treating rats with CPA and fennel oil caused an improvement in the histological structure of the kidney and decreased PCNA, caspase-3 and α-SMA. Moreover, creatinine and urea values were decreased. In conclusion, fennel oil showed ameliorative effect against nephrotoxicity of CPA due to its antioxidant activity.