Cannabis sativa L. protects against oxidative injury in kidney (vero) cells by mitigating perturbed metabolic activities linked to chronic kidney diseases

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Cannabis sativa L. is among numerous medicinal plants widely used in traditional medicine in treating various ailments including kidney diseases.

Aims: The protective effect of C. sativa on oxidative stress, cholinergic and purinergic dysfunctions, and dysregulated glucogenic activities were investigated in oxidative injured kidney (Vero) cell lines.

Methods: Fixed Vero cells were treated with sequential extracts (hexane, dichloromethane [DCM] and ethanol) of C. sativa leaves for 48 h before subjecting to MTT assay. Vero cells were further incubated with FeSO₄ for 30 minutes, following pretreatment with C. sativa extracts for 25 minutes. Normal control consisted of Vero cells not treated with the extracts and/or FeSO₄, while untreated (negative) control consisted of cells treated with only FeSO₄.

Results: MTT assay revealed the extracts were slightly cytotoxic at the highest concentrations (250 μg/mL). There was a significant depletion in glutathione level and catalase activity on induction of oxidative stress, with significant elevation in malondialdehyde level, acetylcholinesterase, ATPase, ENTPDase, fructose-1,6-biphosphatase, glucose 6-phosphatase and glycogen phosphorylase activities. These activities and levels were significantly reversed following pretreatment with C. sativa extracts.

Conclusion: These results portray the protective potentials of C. sativa against iron-mediated oxidative renal injury as depicted by the ability of its extracts to mitigate redox imbalance and suppress acetylcholinestererase activity, while concomitantly modulating purinergic and glucogenic enzymes activities in Vero cells.