Abstract

Amiodarone being an orally effective antiarrhythmic drug widely used throughout the world, had long-term administration side effects such as pulmonary toxicity. Thirty six male albino rats were divided into six equal groups, and doses of different solutions were given to them by gastric tube every day for 8 weeks as follow; the 1st group (G1) which was considered as an untreated control group under the same laboratory conditions, was given distilled water, the 2nd group (G2) was given (100 mg/kg/day) of grape seed , the 3rd group (G3) received (100 mg/kg/day) of ginkgo biloba, the 4th group (G4) amiodarone-treated group that was given (40 mg/kg/day), the 5th group (G5) received amiodarone along with grape seed at the same time, and the 6th group (G6) was given amiodarone parallel with ginkgo biloba at the same time for 8 weeks. The current histological study revealed that amiodarone caused marked changes in the lung including peribronchiolar hyperplasia and inflammatory cells infiltration in addition to thicking of inter-alveolar septa moreover, ultra-structural observations in the lung including vacuolation, degeneration of microvilli and pyknotic nuclei. In addition, histochemical study revealed the depletion of glycogen, and comet assay revealed marked DNA damage.Treatment with the two used antioxidants (grape seed and Ginkgo biloba) reduced the extent of lung damage induced by amiodarone. These antioxidants ameliorated the histopathological structure, increased the contents of glycogen, and improved the ultrastructure alternations of the lung tissue. In conclusion, grape seed is markedly more effective than Ginkgo biloba in protecting rats against amiodarone.