## 4 Discussion
In the current study, three plants, _Urtica dioica_ (UD), _Capsella bursa-pastoris_ (CBP) and _Inula racemosa_ (IR), were used to attenuate acetaminophen-induced nephrotoxicity in male Swiss albino mice. Earlier investigations evaluated that these medicinal plants have greater health benefits, such as antioxidant activity, anticancer properties and neuroprotective effects [29; 32; 57]. However, various studies have proven the hepatoprotective effects of these extracts against various toxins, including carbon tetrachloride and cisplatin. [58; 59; 60]. However, to the best of our comprehension, there is no literature that could explain the nephoprotective effects of UD, CBP and IR against acetaminophen-induced nephrotoxicity. Therefore, in the present study, to check the volatile organic compound profile of the selected medicinal plants, the GC-MS analytical technique was carried out. This analysis demonstrated that the most abundant compounds in UD were 9, 12, 15-octadecatrienoic acid, 2-hexadecen-1-ol, 3-cyclopentylpropionic acid, 1-Heneicosanol, 1-dodecanol, beta-tocopherol, gamma-sitosterol, hexadecanoic acid, 1, 3-hexadecatrienal, and 1, 2, 3-propanetriol. However, in the UD extract, two important pentacyclic triterpenoids, alpha- and beta-amyrin, were detected in minimal amounts. In the case of CBP, the major compounds found were \(\alpha\)-linolenic acid, palmitic acid, gamma-sitosterol, 8A-methyl-3, 1-decanol, 2-pentadecanone, proline, 2-methoxy-4-vinyl phenol, cyclopentane, etudesma and phytol. Additionally, there were some traces of stearic acid, beta-tocopherol and docosine, while the two major compounds present in IR were sesquiterpene lactones, eudesma-5,11(13)-dien-8,12-olide, 8A-methyl-3,5-dimethylene (lvasperine) and 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one. Additionally, some traces of 1, 5, 9-cyclododecatriene and octadecanoic acid were found. It was previously studied that octadecanoic acid has an anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, antiandrogenic, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemomic, 5-alpha-reductase suppressor, nematicide, anti-coronary, antihistaminic, and antiacne activities [61]. Volatile compound profiles in plants have been evaluated to possess various therapeutic effects, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-cancer and antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo [62]. Previous evaluations also demonstrated the presence of pentacyclic triterpenoids and fatty acids as the main metabolites in UD [63]. The quantity of the compounds obtained was significantly different from that in our study, which could be due to the difference in the polarity of solvents, as they used the nonpolar solvent hexane. No standard study was found to evaluate the presence of phytochemicals in CBP through GC-MS analytical techniques. In the case of IR, the two major compounds present were sesquiterpene lactones (alantolactone and isoalantolactone). [PERSON] et al. (2022) reported that these two lactones are considered to be the major sesquiterpene lactones present in rhizomes of IR [64]. Some other compounds were also present in the IR extract but in a minimum amount, such as retinol, tridemorph, and sitosterol, as illustrated in Figure 4. The bioactive substances in the above-mentioned extracts prepared from UD, CBP, and IR are a significant finding for these metabolites' biological properties (antiradical and antioxidants) and, thus, for their promising applications in pharmacology, such as anticancer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and nephoprotective activities [22; 65; 66]. The small discrepancy in the phytochemicals present in the herbal fractions in our study compared to previous studies is due to the difference between agroclimatic and seasonal variations, as well as methods used for determining their biological activities, which have a greater impact on the phytochemical composition of herbs.