Abstract
Background: The nature is a rich source of medicinal compounds in plants. Some of them are hidden in plants. Pumpkin seeds have long been used in Traditional medicine of many countries. Due to the unavailability of sufficient scientific evidence on the effects of this substance on the liver and kidneys, this study was designed.
Methods: In this experimental study, 40 rats immature Wistar (in the range of weight 10 ± 180 g and the age of 60 days) and divided into 5 groups of 8 animals: three experimental groups, control and sham groups. Extract the experimental groups (20, 50, 100 mg dose of pumpkin seed extract kg) was injected intraperitoneally for 21 consecutive days. One day after the last injection blood samples from rats to evaluate serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP, total protein, albumin, bilirubin, uric acid, creatinine and liver and kidney were removed for histological studies. Results: No significant changes in serum levels of ALT, AST, total protein, albumin, bilirubin, uric acid, creatinine compared was found in experimental group. The serum ALP 3 in the experimental group had a significant decrease. Totally, no changes were observed in liver tissue but the diameter of the Boman's capsule and the glomerulus and kidney cortex in the experimental group had a significant decrease.
Conclusion: Extract of pumpkin seeds has been able to significantly reduce the serum ALP and as well as on kidney tissue to reduce the diameter of glomeruli and Bowman's capsule and the cortex.