Baradaran, A.

Rafieian-Kopaei, M.

PubMed

shahrekord university of medical scinces

Journal of Renal Injury PreventionJ Renal Inj Prev. 2013; 2(1): 3-4.Teucrium polium and kidneyMahmoud Rafieian-Kopaei1, Azar Baradaran2’*1Medical Plants Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran2Department of Clinical Pathology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran*Corresponding author: Azar Baradaran, Department of Clinical Pathology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.  E-mail: azarbaradaran@yahoo.comImplication for health policy/practice/research/medical education:Decision about the use of a drug on prevention or amelioration of diseases requires knowledge about the side effects on different organs, specially kidney or liver.A R T I C L E  I N F OKeywords:Teucrium poliumDiabetesKidney injuryArticle History:Received: 21 November 2012Accepted: 2 February 2013ePublished: 1 March 2013Article Type:EditorialPlease cite this paper as: Rafieian-Kopaei M, Baradaran A. Teucrium polium and kidney. J Renal Inj Prev 2013; 2(1): 3-4. DOI: 10.12861/jrip.2013.02 An article recently published entitled “Preventive effect of Teucrium polium on learning and memory deficits in diabetic rats” (1). They aimed to test passive avoidance learning and memory in control and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats, while they were under chronic treatment with an aqueous extract of Teucrium polium. Impairment in acquisition of passive avoidance learning and retrieval of memory was seen by inducing diabetes. Teucrium polium treatment (200 and 400 mg/kg) improved learning and memory in control rats and reversed learning and memory deficits in diabetic rats. They concluded that Teucrium polium prevented the deleterious effects of diabetes on passive avoidance learning and memory. They suggested that, antioxidant, anticholinesterase and hypoglycemic effects of Teucrium might be involved in the obtained effects. They also concluded that, Teucrium polium appears to be a promising candidate for memory improvement in diabetes (1). At this paper, we would like to point out a few comments. In the use of any drug, it is very important to consider its adverse reactions. An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is a response to a medicine which is noxious and unintended, and which occurs at doses normally consumed in man (2). About 6% of hospital admissions (3) and 2.5% of emergency department visits for poisonings (4) may be due to adverse drug reactions. Adverse drug reactions also happen among ambulatory outpatients (5) and among inpatients (6). A minority of drug toxicity is recognized by health care providers (7). Medicinal plants are considered to be safe in comparison to synthetic drugs, however, it does not mean that their possible toxicities need not to be considered. To test the possible renal toxicity of hydroalcoholic extract of Teucrium polium, we recently studied 100 male Wistar rats (8). Rats were divided into 10 groups of ten each. Five groups were injected intraperitoneally (ip), 50, 100, 150, 200 mg/kg extracts and normal saline for 28 days and killed to examine the probable renal injury. Five other groups were injected the same drug regimen, but they were killed 28 days after discontinuation of Teucrium polium injections to find out possible renal complications or regeneration during recovery. Following 28 days of Teucrium polium receiving (phase I), renal injury was not increased in comparison with control group. However, following 28 days of drug cessation, kidney injury including degeneration, destruction and vacuolization (9), appeared in comparison to control group. In this study, we concluded that Teucrium polium may be associated with kidney tubular injury and this herbal medicine should be used with caution (8,9). It is well known that herbal remedies have an important role in the recovery of some disease (10,11), however, some of the medicinal plant can be a common source of renal injury. Teucrium polium has been widely used to control of blood sugar in diabetes, too (1-4). Hence according to our results, concerning its renal tubular cell toxicity, it needs much attention to re-evaluate its use. Indeed decision about the use of a drug on prevention or amelioration of diseases requires knowledge about the side effects on different organs, specially kidney or liver (10,11). In this regard, to Editorialhttp://journalrip.com            DOI: 10.12861/jrip.2013.02 Rafieian-Kopaei M et al.4 Journal of Renal Injury Prevention, Volume 2, Number 1, March 2013better understand the hepatic and renal effects of T. polium, more experimental or clinical studies are suggested.Authors’ contributions AB  wrote the manuscript. MRK contributed to the final preparation of the manuscript.Conflict of interestsNone to declare.Ethical considerations Ethical issues (including plagiarism, data fabrication, double publication) have been completely observed by the author.Funding/SupportNo financial support by any institution. References1. Hasanein P, Shahidi S. Preventive effect of Teucrium polium on learning and memory deficits in diabetic rats. Med Sci Monit 2012; 18: BR41-46.2. World Health Organization. Safety of Medicines: A guide to detecting and reporting adverse drug reactions; Why health professionals need to take action, WHO/EDM/QSM. 2002; 2: 53. Pirmohamed M, James S, Meakin S, Green C, Scott AK, Walley TJ, et al. Adverse drug reactions as cause of admission to hospital: prospective analysis of 18 820 patients. BMJ 2004; 329: 15-9. 4. Budnitz DS, Pollock DA, Weidenbach KN, Mendelsohn AB, Schroeder TJ, Annest JL. National surveillance of emergency department visits for outpatient adverse drug events. JAMA 2006; 296: 1858-66. 5. Gandhi TK, Weingart SN, Borus J, et al. Adverse drug events in ambulatory care. N Engl J Med 2003; 348: 1556-64. 6. Classen DC, Pestotnik SL, Evans RS, Lloyd JF, Burke JP. Adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. Excess length of stay, extra costs, and attributable mortality. JAMA 1997; 277: 301-6. 7. Gurwitz JH, Field TS, Harrold LR, Rothschild J, Debellis K, Seger AC, et al. Incidence and preventability of adverse drug events among older persons in the ambulatory setting. JAMA  2003; 289: 1107-16. 8. Baradaran A, Madihi Y, Merrikhi A, Rafieian-Kopaei M, Nematbakhsh M, Asgari A, et al. Nephrotoxicity of hydroalcoholic extract of Teucrium polium in Wistar rats. Pak J Med Sci 2013; 29: 329-33. 9. Rafieian Kopaei M, BaradaranA, Merrikhi A, Nematbakhsh M, Madihi Y, Nasri H. Efficacy of Co administration of Garlic Extract and Metformin for Prevention of Gentamicin–Renal Toxicity in Wistar Rats: A Biochemical Study. Int J Prev Med 2013; 4: 258-64.10. Amini FG, Rafieian-Kopaei M, Nematbakhsh M, Baradaran A, Nasri H. Ameliorative effects of metformin on renal histologic and biochemical alterations of gentamicin-induced renal toxicity in Wistar rats. J Res Med Sci 2012; 17: 621-5.11. Shahraki MR, Arab MR, Mirimokaddam E, Palan MJ. The effect of Teucrium polium (Calpoureh) on liver function, serum lipids and glucose in diabetic male rats. Iran Biomed J 2007; 11: 65-68.http://journalrip.com            

Teucrium polium and kidney.

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