Abstract
Melanin is a pigmentary macromolecule and has proposed to act as cellular antioxidant that can scavenge the free radicals. Our study aimed to confirm nephrotoxicity induced by peritoneal administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in vivo and investigate anti-oxidant role of melanin against inflammatory damage, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation; for lipid peroxidation, malonaldehyde (MDA) was evaluated, and for oxidative stress, reduced glutathione (GSH) was assessed in kidney tissues. The inflammatory kidney damage was supported through evaluation of the serum markers and the histological investigation. Rats were injected with 50 mu l of 10 nm GNPs, along with 100 mg/kg bw/day of melanin. Our results showed that GNPs administration led to severe kidney damage, supported by a significant decrease in GSH and rise in MDA levels. Results were further demonstrated by significant elevation in creatinine (CR), urea (BUN) and uric acid (URIC) serum levels. Our data showed that melanin conclusively inhibits the renal damage by reducing MDA and elevating GSH levels. So our data therefore point to beneficial role of melanin with GNPs for cancer treatment.