Possible protective role of palm oil and beef liver on the kidney and liver of wistar albino rats fed diesel-contaminated diet.

We investigated the effects of eight weeks of a diesel-contaminated diet on liver and kidney of Wistar Albino rats, as well as the possible protective role of palm oil and beef liver. There was a significant increase in serum activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of rats fed with diesel-contaminated diet compared with the controls, indicating damage to the liver. Rats fed with diesel- contaminated diets also exhibited a significant increase in serum urea and creatinine, indicating kidney damage. While there was a significant reduction in the activities of serum ALT and AST, as well as serum urea and creatinine in rats fed palm oil-pretreated diesel-contaminated diet, rats fed with beef liver-pretreated diesel-contaminated diet showed no significant decrease in serum ALT, AST, urea and creatinine as compared to those fed with diesel-contaminated diets. Histological examination of the kidney and liver revealed severe degenerative changes in the structural integrity of both hepatic and renal cells of rats fed with diesel-contaminated diets as compared to those of the controls and palm oil-pretreated diets. However, pretreatment of the diesel-contaminated diet with palm oil conferred some protection on both renal and hepatic cells. These observations may therefore suggest that palm oil may play a protective role against diesel-induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.