J Appl Biomed 3:133-138, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.017
Protective influence of Pongamia pinnata (Karanja) on blood ammonia and urea levels in ammonium chloride-induced hyperammonemia: antihyperammonemic effect of the leaf extract
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India
The present study was undertaken to investigate the antihyperammonemic efficacy of the leaf extract of Pongamia pinnata, an indigenous plant used in Ayurvedic Medicine in India (PPEt), on blood ammonia, plasma urea, uric acid, non-protein nitrogen and serum creatinine in control and ammonium chloride induced hyperammonemic rats. The levels of blood ammonia, circulatory urea, uric acid, non-protein nitrogen and creatinine increased significantly in rats treated with ammonium chloride and decreased significantly in rats treated with PPEt and ammonium chloride. There were no significant changes in the body weights of the experimental animals when compared to controls. The antihyperammonemic effect of PPEt could be attributed to (1) its nephroprotective effect by means of detoxifying excess urea and creatinine, (2) its free radical scavenging property, and (3) its antioxidant property. The exact mechanism of antihyperammonemic effect PPEt has still to be investigated and isolation of the active constituents is required.
Keywords: ammonium chloride; Pongamia pinnata; urea; uric acid; creatinine; non-protein nitrogen
Received: April 28, 2005; Published: July 31, 2005 Show citation
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