Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(3): 2118-2129, 2009 ISSN 1991-8178 © 2009, INSInet Publication Curative Effect of Dietary Freshwater and Marine Crustacean Extracts on Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Nephrotoxicity Sohair R. Fahmy, Salwa A.H. Hamdi and Hala A. Abdel-Salam Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Egypt Abstract: The freshwater crustacean Procombarus clarkii and marine Erugosquilla massavensis are edible crustacean species that have a small yet growing economic importance in our markets. However, their therapeutic effects as antioxidant remain unclear. So, the present work aims to throw 4 the light for the first time in Egypt on their antioxidant effects. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl ) is established hepatotoxin and also induces acute and chronic renal injuries. The present study was designed to establish the curative effects of both freshwater crustacean extract (FCE) from 4 Procombarus clarkii and marine crustacean extract (MCE) from Erugosquilla massavensis on CCl - induced oxidative stress and resultant dysfunction of kidney. Rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, (I) control, (II & III) administered orally FCE and MCE (250 mg/kg) respectively for 9 days 4 and (IV) administered (CCl ) (2.5 ml/kg b.wt. p.o) for 2 days and then subdivided into 8 subgroups, the animals of these subgroups treated for 7 days as follow, subgroup (I) distilled water, (II) sliymarin, (III, VI, V) administered 50, 100 and 250 mg/kg. FCE and (X, XI, XIII) administered 50, 100 and 4 250 mg/kg. MCE, respectively. CCl challenge caused a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) (II) and decrease in reduced glutathion (GSH) levels, catalase (CAT) activity and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) as compared to control group. Treatment with all tested doses of both FCE 4 and MCE attenuated the CCl -toxicity, furthermore restore the control condition, hence the dose dependant effect study was unnecessary and the present study recommended the treatment with two studied extracts at a dose of 50 mg/kg. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the curative 4 effect of FCE and MCE on CCl induced oxidative stress in kidney. The curative effect of FCE and MCE can be correlated to their direct antioxidant effect which may be related to their contents of sulpher-containing amino acids and taurine. Key words: Crustacea, Procambarus clarkii, Erugosquilla massavensis, Kidney injury, Oxidative 4 stress, CCl . INTRODUCTION Exposure to various organic compounds including a number of environmental pollutants and drugs can cause cellular damages through metabolic activation of those compounds to highly reactive substances such 4 as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Carbon tetrachloride (CCl ), an induistrial solvent, is a well established hepatotoxin (Szymonik-Lesiuk et al., 2003; Tirkey et al., 2005; Ye et al., 2009; Murugesan et al., 2009). 4 Various studies demonstrated that liver is not the only target organ of CCl and it causes free radical generation in other tissues such as kidney, heart, testis, brain and blood (Manjrekar et al., 2008; Ichi et al., 4 2009; Preethi&Kuttan, 2009). It has been reported that CCl induced acute and chronic renal injuries (Ogeturk et al., 2005; Jaramillo-Juarez et al., 2008; Preethi&Kuttan, 2009). 3 Extensive evidence demonstrated that CCl and Cl are formed as a result of the metabolic activation of 4 CCl , which in turn, initiate lipid peroxidation process (Yuan et al., 2008; Upur et al., 2009; Quan et al., 4 2009). Studies also showed that certain natural extracts containing antioxidants protect against CCl -induced lipid peroxide levels and impairment in hepatic glutathion GSH status (Yoshikawa et al., 1997; Tirkey et al., 2005; Koyama et al., 2006; Quan et al., 2009). Products from freshwater and marine sources have recently become attractive as nutraceutical and functional foods and as a source material for the development of drugs and specific health foods (Koyama et al., 2006). Supplements derived from marine foods have been used to treat and prevent a wide variety of lifestyle-related diseases such as unsaturated fatty acids (Ikeda et al., 1994; Hamazaki et al., 2005) and Corresponding Author: Sohair R. Fahmy, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Egypt E-mail: sohairfahmy@gmail.com 2118