NE US Academic Publishers Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences April 2020 | Volume 8 | Issue 4 | Page 385 INTRODUCTION T he use of medicinal plants in folk medicine is an age- long practice in various parts of the globe for both preventive and curative purposes. Todays, it is estimated that about 80% of the world population relies on botanical preparations as medicine to meet their healthcare needs (Ogbera et al., 2010). Liver is the largest organ in the body and plays a signifcant role in protecting various biological function and help in detoxifcation and excretion of various endogenous and exogenous compounds (Mohamed et al., 2010). Te liver is often the target organ for many chemically induced injuries. Many oxidative reactions produce reactive metabolites that can induce oxidative stress and consequently liver damage or injury. Te types of injury to the liver depend on the type of toxic agent, the severity of intoxication, and the type of exposure, whether acute or chronic toxicity (Comfort et al., 2013). Kidneys has an important role in removing wastes like Research Article Abstract | Te present study aimed to investigate the hepato-renal protective efect of Ocimum basilicum (O. basilicum) leaf extract against the hepato-renal toxicity induced by paracetamol in rats. Twenty four Wistar male rats were divided into four groups each group contains 6 rats as follows: Group I rats received 2 ml distilled water for 30 days and served as a vehicle control. Rats in the group II were given single oral dose of paracetamol (500 mg/kg), 1 h after last distilled water administration and kept as paracetamol intoxicated control group. Groups III and IV received the ethanolic extract of O. basilicum at 200 and 400 mg/kg bwt, respectively, once daily for 30 consecutive days followed by a single oral dose of paracetamol (500 mg/kg), 1 h after the last O. basilicum extract. Te degree of hepatoprotection was measured using liver enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and bilirubin, albumin, and lipid profle. Te degree of renal protection was measured using creatinine, urea, total protein and glucose. Histopathological examinations of liver and kidney were also done. Te signifcantly altered liver and kidney functions by paracetamol toxicity were restored to nearly normal values by administration of O. basilicum extract. Change in biochemical parameters in groups received paracetamol alone was normalized in groups given paracetamol and O. basilicum extract. Histopathological lesions induced by paracetamol in liver and kidney was also markedly decreased by its co-administration with O. basilicum extract. Te fndings indicated that O. basilicum extract has a hepato-renal protective activity against paracetamol induced toxicity in rats. Tis protection may be attributed to good antioxidant activity of O. basilicum. Terefore intake of O. basilicum extract may reduce hepato-renal toxicity induced by paracetamol. Keywords | Ocimum basilicum, Paracetamol, Hepato-renal toxicity, Antioxidant AHMED M. SOLIMAN 1 *, HANAN A. RIZK 3 , MOSTAFA A. SHALABY 1 , ASHRAF A. ELKOMY 2 Mechanisms of Hepato-Renal Protective Activity of Ocimum basilicum Leaf Extract against Paracetamol Toxicity in Rat Model Received | January 03, 2020; Accepted | March 12, 2020; Published | March 20, 2020 *Correspondence | Ahmed M. Soliman, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt; Email: galalpharma@ hotmail.com; galalpharma@cu.edu.eg Citation | Soliman AM, Rizk MA, Shalaby MA, Elkomy AA (2020). Mechanisms of hepato-renal protective activity of Ocimum basilicum leaf extract against paracetamol toxicity in rat model. Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci. 8(4): 385-391. DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.aavs/2020/8.4.385.391 ISSN (Online) | 2307-8316; ISSN (Print) | 2309-3331 Copyright © 2020 Soliman et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1 Department of pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; 2 Department of pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt; 3 Department of pharmacology and toxicology, National Organization for Drug Control and Research (NODCAR), Egypt.