Background: Renal injury following ischemia - reperfusion (I/R) is still an unavoidable problem in many remedial and medical situations. Portulaca oleracea (PO) has been known for its anti-oxidative effects. Then, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of PO (EEPO) on the renal function and antioxidant status after induction of I/R injury in the rat kidney.

Materials and Methods: A total of 30 rats (Wistar) were divided into five groups (n = 6 each). Sham group: underwent laparotomy without I/R, EEPO group: EEPO administered 300 mg/kg then was operated like sham, I/R group: was underwent renal ischemia/reperfusion only, EEPO150+ I/R and AEPO300+ I/R groups: were administered PO 150 and 300 mg/kg then underwent I/R operation. PO extract was administered for 5 days in the relevant groups by gavage. Serum urea and creatinine (Scr), the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant activity (TAA) were determined. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc LSD test. P values of 0.05 or less were considered statistically significant.

Results: Induction of I/R and pretreatment with PO extract, increased the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in comparison with sham group (p<0.05, p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the levels of MDA, GSH and TAA among different groups. On the other hand, the Scr and serum urea of the I/R and treated groups were elevated compared to the sham group (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Ethanolic extract of PO did not strongly affect the renal antioxidant status and could not prevent the renal injury following I/R.