investigating preventive effect of vitamin d and n-acetylcysteine against kidney injury in rats versus the promotive effect of paraquat

Background: paraquat (pq) is one of the most important herbicides used in agriculture. objectives: this study was conducted to compare the preventive effect of vitamin d (vit d) and n-acetylcysteine (nac) against kidney injury in rats versus the promotive effect of pq. methods: in this study, rats were divided into six groups. the control group (group 1) received normal saline, vit d group (group 2) received intraperitoneal (ip) injections of+vit d (2 μg/kg), nac group (group 3) received nac (6.25 mg/kg, ip), pq group (group 4) received pq (5 mg/kg/d, ip), pq+vit d group (group 5) received pq+vit d (5 mg/kg/d+2 μg/kg/d, ip) and pq+nac group (group 6) received pq+nac (5 mg/kg/d+6.25 mg/kg/d, ip). the animals were treated for 7 consecutive days as a sub-chronic exposure. after the collection of urea and serum creatinine, biomarkers of oxidative stress and kidney histopathology were investigated. results: pq increased lipid peroxidation (lpo), urea, and serum creatinine, but it significantly decreased total antioxidant capacity (tac) and thiol groups. in the groups treated with vit d and nac, it was observed that lpo, urea, and creatinine significantly decrease compared with the pq group, and tac, thiol groups, and vit d levels increased in kidney tissue. conclusion: the obtained findings revealed that both vit d and nac used as preventive compound were able to reduce oxidative stress and tissue damage caused by pq toxicity in the kidney.