The preventive effects of Ulva lactuca aqueous extract, ulvan polysaccharides and atorvastatin on ethylene glycol-induced hyperoxaluria

OBJECTIVE: Kidney stones are a common complication of hyperoxaluria. The aim of this study is to investigate the protective and preventive effects of Ulva lactuca aqueous ex-tract, ulvan polysaccharides and atorvastatin on ethylene glycol-induced hyperoxaluria.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats between 110 and 145 g in weight were used in the study, Ulva lactuca aqueous extract and polysaccharides were prepared. The male albi-no rats were supplemented with 0.75 percent ethylene glycol (v/v) in their drinking water for six weeks to induce hyperoxaluria. Ulvan infu-sions (100 mg/kg body weight), ulvan polysac-charides (100 mg/kg body weight), and atorvas-tatin (two milligrams/kg body weight) to treat hyperoxaluric rats for four weeks (every other day) were used. Weight loss, serum creatinine, serum urea, serum uric acid, serum oxalate, kid-ney oxalate, kidney lipid peroxidation, and kid-ney DNA fragmentation and kidney histopatho-logical studies were done. RESULTS: Weight loss, rise of serum creati-nine, serum urea, serum uric acid, serum oxa-late, kidney oxalate, kidney lipid peroxidation, and kidney DNA fragmentation were all shown to be prevented by the addition of atorvastatin, polysaccharides, or aqueous extract, respec-tively. Catalase (CAT) activity, glutathione perox-idase (GPX) activity, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity, and histopathological perturba-tions were all significantly reduced by the medi-cines that were studied.CONCLUSIONS: Hyperoxaluria caused by ethylene glycol may be prevented by a combina-tion of Ulva lactuca aqueous extract, ulvan poly-saccharides, and atorvastatin. A reduction in re-nal oxidative stress and an improvement of the antioxidant defense system may be responsible for these protective benefits. However, Ulva lac-tuca infusion and ulvan polysaccharides need to be studied further in humans, in order to deter-mine their efficacy and safety.