Protective effect of fleroxacin against the nephrotoxicity of isepamicin in rats

The protective effect of fleroxacin on isepamicin-induced nephrotoxicity was investigated. Wistar rats were administered either fleroxacin 100 mg/kg orally, isepamicin 300 mg/kg subcutaneously, or fleroxacin and isepamicin in combination for 14 d. The animals given 300 mg/kg of isepamicin showed a significant increase in urine N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) levels as compared with the control animals which received saline (p<0.01). However, the increase in NAG level was markedly less when isepamicin was administered in combination with fleroxacin (p<0.01). Fleroxacin alone had no effect on urine NAG activity. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were significantly higher in animals treated with isepamicin alone than in the control animals (p<0.01) or animals receiving the isepamicin fleroxacin combination (p<0.01). Histopathologically, fleroxacin induced very few cellular alterations, but considerably reduced the manifestation of typical signs of isepamicin nephrotoxicity. This investigation demonstrates that fleroxacin protects animals against isepamicin-induced nephrotoxicity.