The Ginkgo biloba extract (GbE) protects the kidney from damage produced by a single and low dose of carbon tetrachloride in adult male rats

Gingko biloba leaves have been used as herbal medicine in China for 5000 years, and the standardized leaf extract (GB-STE) has some beneficial effects in the treatment of age-related, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the renoprotective effects of the Gingko biloba extract (GbE) against the toxicity of a single and relatively low dose of carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄). In male adult Wistar rats, we determined the urine flux, the concentration of total proteins in urine, the concentration of glucose in urine, and the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in renal cortex as well as two markers of renal function (clearance of inulin and p-aminohippurate); we also compared the histological lesions caused by CCl₄. Carbon tetrachloride increased the urinary concentration of total proteins, and the renal concentration of MDA; however, it did not modify the urine flux, urinary concentration of glucose, nor the inuline or the p-aminohipurate clearances. Morphologically, CCl₄ generated some tubular damage that was more intense in the inner cortex of kidneys. The GbE extract counteracted the effects of CCl₄ on the concentration of total proteins in urine, the concentration of renal MDA, and the renal histological changes. In conclusion the main toxic effects produced by CCl₄ were prevented by the GbE, probably due to their antioxidant properties and the inhibition of the main P450 isoenzyme (CYP2E1) that metabolize CCl₄.