Assessment of Protective and Therapeutic Effects of Green Tea and Honey on Atrazine-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Albino Wistar Rats

Abstract

Aim: To assess the effect of green tea and honey on atrazine induced nephrotoxicity in albino Wistar rats. Study Design: Experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Clinical Chemistry and Department of Anatomy, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, between August 2024 and December 2024. Methodology: Thirty (30) rats both male and female averagely weighing between 150-250g were randomly divided into six (6) groups of five rats each and acclimatized for 14 days. Group 1 (negative control, were allowed rat feed and water ad libitum), group II (positive control, received oral administration of 0.23ml Atrazine orally), group III (received 0.23ml of 100mg/kg of atrazine and 0.2ml of 50mg/kg), group IV (received 0.23ml of 100mg/kg of atrazine and 0.9ml of 200mg/kg), group V (received 0.23ml of 100mg/kg of atrazine, 0.5ml of 100mg/kg of green tea and 10% honey solution at 0.7ml), group VI (received 0.23ml of 100mg/kg of atrazine after 15 days of administering 10% honey solution at 0.7ml). All treatments were done once daily for 15 days. At the end of 15 days, the rats were anaesthetized using chloroform and 2ml of blood was collected from each through cardiac puncture after a fasting period of 24 hours, for the analysis of sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate, using enzymatic method, and urea and creatinine, using spectrophotometric method. GraphPad Prism Version 10.0 was used for data analysis with statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation (SD), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s multiple comparison test, and p<0.05 was regarded to be statistically significant. Results: The results showed a significant difference in urea (p=0.0001) and creatinine (p=0.0001). The mean sodium (p<0.0001), potassium (p<0.0001), chloride (p=0.0138) and bicarbonate (p=0.0003) levels for all groups also showed a significant difference when compared. in the treatment groups compared to the positive control group (group II). Conclusion: These results may suggest that green tea and honey possess the potential of ameliorating nephrotoxicity caused by Atrazine. Further related studies on the mechanisms of nephrotoxicity are, however, recommended.