Abstract

Gentamicin is widely used as an effective antibiotic. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of intramuscular administration of gentamicin on 20, 5 to 6 weeks male Swiss albino mice weighing 25 to 30 g. The mice were divided into 4 groups: Group A (kept as control); groups B, C and D (treated with gentamicin intramuscularly daily at the dose rate of 5 mg/kg for 7 days, 5 mg/kg for 30 days, and 10 mg/kg for 30 days, respectively). The mice of treated groups showed specific clinical signs such as dullness, roughness of the body coat, anorexia and weakness. Blood was collected by cardiac puncture for estimation of various blood chemical parameters, such as total erythrocyte count (TEC), total leucocyte count (TLC), hemoglobin percentage (Hb%), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and serum creatinine. Kidneys were collected for gross and histological study. Body weight (P<0.01) and kidney weight (P<0.05) decreased significantly in gentamicin treated group. In hematological study, TEC, TLC, and Hb% values decreased significantly (P<0.01), whereas in biochemical study, serum creatinine and ALT values increased significantly (P<0.01) in treated group when compared with control group. Gross study of kidneys showed abnormal characteristics, such as, soft, flabby, brownish color with decreased size of left kidney in treated group. Histological study revealed desquamation of glomerulus, loss of glomerular architecture, distortion of renal tubules and hemorrhage in tubules of treated group. These data supports the view that gentamicin has a toxic effect on the morphology of kidney after long term treatment with higher dose.

Key words: Gentamicin, kidney, toxic effect, morphology, mice.