# Effects of Curcumin on the Renal Toxicity Induced by Ochratoxin A in Rats
## 3 Results
### Histopathological Examination  
Rat kidneys of the Control and CURC-treated groups appeared to be in a normal state with a mild accumulation of intrattubular proteinaceous material. Only in one case of the Control group and in one case of the CURC treated group did we observe an interstitial scattered lymphocytic infiltration. No differences were noted between the Control and CURC treated groups. Instead, kidneys from the OTA-treated group showed a diffuse global reduction of Bowman's space with segmental or global glomerular necrosis. Bowman's space and tubules lumen contained abundant proteinaceous material, erythrocytes and, occasionally, sloughed necrotic epithelial cells. Tubular epithelial cells were often atrophic, degenerated, or necrotic. Interstice was multifocally expanded by a moderate lymphocytic infiltrate and by severe fibrosis (Figure 4a). Rats treated with both OTA and CURC showed a significant reduction of glomerular (**\(p\) < 0.01) and tubular damage (**\(p\) < 0.01), compared with the OTA group. However, no significant differences were seen regarding inflammation and proteinaceous casts comparing the OTA + CURC with the OTA group. The group treated with OTA + CURC showed more severe glomerular damage (**\(p\) < 0.01), tubular damage (***\(p\) < 0.001), inflammation (**\(p\) < 0.05) and proteinaceous casts (****\(p\) < 0.0001) compared with the Control group (Figure 4b). The group treated with OTA + CURC showed a less severe fibrosis (**\(p\) < 0.05) compared with the OTA group, but this change remains more severe than that observed in the Control group (**\(p\) < 0.05) (Figure 5a,b). Figure 3: Effects of Curcumin (CURC) used alone or in association with Ochratoxin A (OTA) on lipid peroxidation measured by malondialdehydedehyde (MDA), expressed in nmole of MDA for milligrams of proteins in rat kidney after 14 days of treatment. Control group (Control); Curcumin group (CURC); Ochratoxin A group (OTA); Curcumin plus Ochratoxin A group (CURC + OTA). Results are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation (SD) of \(n\) = 6 rats. OTA treatment significantly increased MDA levels, while co-administration with CURC prevented this effect. (***\(p\) < 0.001 versus Control; ***\(p\) < 0.001 versus OTA). Figure 4: Renal histopathological evaluation of study groups. Control group (Control); Curcumin group (CURC); Ochratoxin A group (OTA); Curcumin plus Ochratoxin A group (CURC + OTA). (**A**) Histopathological findings obtained from light microscopy analysis of hematoxylin-eosin-stained kidney tissues (magnification, 40\(\times\); scale bars, 50 \(\upmu\)m). Rats of the Control group and CURC groups showed a small amount of intratubular proteinaceous material (arrow). Rats treated with both OTA and CURC showed segmental necrosis of the glomerulus (asterisk) and abundant proteinaceous material in Bowman’s spaces and tubules lumen (arrows) associated with severe tubular epithelial cell atrophy and necrosis (arrow heads). OTA-treated rats showed severe global reduction of Bowman’s space (asterisks), abundant proteinaceous material in Bowman’s spaces and tubules lumen (arrows) associated with severe tubular epithelial cell atrophy and necrosis (arrow heads). (**B**) Severity scores of glomerular damage, tubular damage, inflammation and the presence of proteinaceous material evaluated on hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections for each group. Asterisks represent statistical differences between groups (”\(p<0.05\), ***\(p<0.01\), ***\(p<0.001\), ***\(p<0.0001\)). Figure 5: Renal histopathological evaluation of study groups. Control group (Control); Curcumin group (CURC); Ochratoxin A group (OTA); Curcumin plus Ochratoxin A group (CURC + OTA). (**A**) Histopathological findings obtained from light microscopy analysis of Masson’s trichrome-stained kidney tissues (magnification, 40\(\times\); scale bars, 50 \(\upmu\)m). Rats of the Control group and CURC groups show normal fibers of connective tissue (blue) in the interstice.