Introduction: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are well known as nephrotoxic drugs. Diclofenac sodium is one of the NSAIDs. Silymarin protective effect on kidney have been proven experimentally against many nephrotoxic drugs.
Aim: This work aimed to study the possible role of Silymarin in ameliorating the harmful effects of Diclofenac sodium on renal cortex of the adult male. Material and Methods: Forty-five adult male albino rats were used in this study. They were equally divided into three groups: Group I: was further equally subdivided into: Group IA: kept as a negative control, Group IB: received 4 ml of distilled water/Kg BW (body weight) and Group IC: received 100 mg of Silymarin/kg BW. Group II: received 4mg of Diclofenac sodium/kg BW. Group III: received 4mg of Diclofenac sodium /kg BW in addition to 100mg of Silymarin /kg BW. All drugs and vehicles were administered orally by gastric tube once daily for two consecutive weeks.
Results: The present work revealed marked histological changes of the renal cortex of group II that received Diclofenac in the form of tubular cells vacuolations with luminal dilatation, shrinking glomeruli and widening of Bowman's space. Group III that received Diclofenac in addition to Silymarin showed nearly regular structure of the renal cortex. Conclusion: Silymarin greatly protected the renal cortex from Diclofenac induced histological and immunohistochemical changes.