Inflammatory mediator responses of Vaccinium corymbosum extracts on the streptokinase induced acute glomerulonephritis in rats

Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) has many health benefits including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Glomerulonephritis is a commonly found kidney disease in companion animals that is characterized by glomerular proliferation and inflammation likes characteristics. The present study was carried out to evaluate the potential of blueberry against inflammatory response in the kidney of acute glomerulonephritis (AGN) in animal models. For this, twenty male Wistar rats were randomized into five groups i.e. A - E (n=4). Among these Group A has four healthy individuals administrated with aqua dest (negative control), group B individuals have streptokinase (6000IU/rat) induced acute glomerulonephritis rats treated with aqua dest (positive control) while group C-E has streptokinase (6000IU/rat) induced acute glomerulonephritis rats treated with different concentrations of blueberry extract (500, 1000, and 1500 mg/kg body weight) for 14 days, respectively. After 14 days, kidney samples were harvested for histology and immunohistochemistry examinations. One-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey test was used for statistical analysis (P< 0.05). The blueberry extract treated AGN rats showed a significantly decreased in IL-1beta expression and inflammatory cell numbers compared to negative and positive control rats and 1500 mg/kg of the blueberry extract was found as the optimal dose. Results of the study can be concluded that blueberry extract has a strong anti-inflammatory effect that could depress the inflammatory responses in acute glomerulonephritis rat animal models.