ameliorative effect of crocin on cadmium-induced kidney neoplasms in rats

Background: as a neoplasm risk factor, cadmium can remarkably accumulate in the kidneys and alter its natural function through several pathways. this study aimed to inspect the antioxidant effect of crocin on inactivating the cadmium carcinogenicity in the kidney.methods: in this experimental study, groups of selected rats, including a control group, corn oil, crocin, cadmium, and complex (crocin+ cadmium) were treated with relative gastric gavage for 8 weeks. 48 hours after the last treatment, rats were sacrificed, and aortic blood was collected for measuring the plasma levels of creatinine and bun. the kidney was also removed to evaluate the biomarkers of kidney damage using real-time pcr and histopathological examination.results: the biochemical assay results addressed the significant (p<0.001) rise of creatinine and bun levels in cadmium exposure to rats was associated with kidney cancer or malfunction. the reduction of serum creatinine and bun levels in the complex group confirmed the recovery rate of kidney function by crocin. findings from molecular assay revealed that crocin reduced the expression of kidney damage marker cystatin c while increasing the biomarkers of kidney function gene expression. these implied the kidney-destructive role of cadmium and the retrieval role of crocin. histopathological results deduced that cadmium could induce partial destruction of the kidney and the neoplasm mass. however, crocin can cause tubular necrosis in cancer cells.conclusions: crocin has been concluded to be a potent reno-protective agent against cadmium-induced nephrotoxicity. thus, crocin would be a promising novel pharmacological agent for alleviating kidney cancer.