==== Front Ann Saudi MedAnn Saudi MedAnnals of Saudi Medicine0256-49470975-4466King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 10.5144/0256-4947.2013.510basm-5-510bLettersReply: Oxytocin ameliorates cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats Nasri Hamid From the Internal Medicine, Hajar Medical, Educational and Therapeutic Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiyari, IranCorrespondence: Dr. Hamid Nasri, Internal Medicine, Hajar Medical, Educational and Therapeutic Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiyari, Iran, T: 00989121439584, F: 0098381 2243715, hamidnasri@yahoo.com, nrc@skums.ac.irSep-Oct 2013 33 5 510 511 Copyright © 2013, Annals of Saudi Medicine2013This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. ==== Body To the Editor: We read with great interest the recently published nice article in the esteemed “Ann Saudi Med”, by Elberry et al entitled “Oxytocin ameliorates cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats”.1 In an experimental study on 48 male Wistar albino rats, Elberry et al. aimed to study the ameliorative effects of oxytocin against cisplatin renal toxicity.1 They assessed the renal injury of cisplatin by performing histopathological study and by observing an increase in serum LDH activity as well as urea and creatinine levels. Furthermore, to asses renal injury, they also measured renal tissue activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione S-transferase as well as glutathione level. Also the renal tissue content of thiobarbituric acid–reactive substances, nitric oxide end-product nitrite, and the activity of myeloperoxidase were measured. They found that oxytocin protected rats from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and attributedthis to the antioxidant activity of oxytocin.1 In this letter, I would like to point out a few points about cisplatin nephrotoxicity. In a preclinical study, we observed that estrogen attenuates the defending property of erythropoietin against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in ovariectomized Wistar rats.2 We also observed that L-arginine had ameliorative effects against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in male rats. Nevertheless, it intensifies the induced injury in female rats.3 In this study, we described a sex-related difference in the rat model of cisplatin nephrotoxicity.3 Since, the position of gender in cisplatin-induced renal toxicity is not reported from published reports, we conducted another preclinical study on the rat model of cisplatin nephrotoxicity. From the results of this study we found that losartan, as an angiotension receptor blocker, may prevent cisplatin nephrotoxicity in males, whereas it aggravates the cisplatin-induced tubular injury in female rats.4 We concluded that the sex-related difference of cisplatin nephrotoxicity may be related to the renin–angiotensin system receptors in the kidneys.4–9 In addition, we reported that, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, or losartan have not ameliorative effects against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in the presence of estrogen in the ovariectomized rat model of cisplatin toxicity,10 which is in agreement with our previous results. Therefore, it is well established that there is a gender difference in the cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in the rat model. However, it is well recognized that some conditions leading to chronic kidney diseases are gender related too.5–9 Few studies published regarding gender difference in cisplatin-induced kidney toxicity. However, there still needs to more investigate mechanisms interact in cisplatin nephrotoxicity especially on gender difference.10,11 To better find the factor of sex difference in cisplatin nephrotoxicity, further experimental rat model or clinical studies recommended. Conflict of interest The authors declared no competing interests. ==== Refs REFERENCES 1 Elberry AA Refaie SM Kamel M Ali T Darwish H Ashour O Oxytocin ameliorates cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats Ann Saudi Med 2013 33 1 57 62 10.5144/0256-4947.2013.57 23458943 2 Pezeshki Z Nematbakhsh M Mazaheri S Eshraghi-Jazi F Talebi A Nasri H Estrogen abolishes protective effect of erythropoietin against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in ovariectomized rats ISRN Oncology 2012 10.5402/2012/890310 3 Eshraghi-Jazi F Nematbakhsh M Nasri H Talebi A Haghighi M Pezeshki Z The protective role of endogenous nitric oxide donor (L-arginine) in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity: Gender related differences in rat model J Res Med Sci 2011 16 11 1389 96 22973338 4 Haghighi M Nematbakhsh M Talebi A Nasri H Ashrafi F Roshanaei K The role of angiotensin II receptor 1 (AT1) blockade in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats: gender-related differences Ren Fail 2012 34 8 1046 51 22780575 5 Ghorbani A Omidvar B Parsi A Protective effect of selenium on cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity: A double-blind controlled randomized clinical trial J Nephropathology 2013 2 2 129 134 10.5812/nephropathol.10656 24475439 6 Nematbakhsh M Ashrafi F Pezeshki Z Fatahi Z Kianpoor F Sanei MH Talebi A A histopathological study of nephrotoxicity, hepatoxicity or testicular toxicity: Which one is the first observation as side effect of Cisplatin-induced toxicity in animal model JNephropathology 2012 1 3 190 193 10.5812/nephropathol.8122 24475415 7 Solati M Mahboobi HR Paraoxonase enzyme activity and dyslipidemia in chronic kidneydisease patients J Nephropathology 2012 1 3 123 125 10.5812/nephropathol.8106 24475401 8 Kam-Tao Li PK Burdmann EA Mehta RL Acute kidney injury: global health alert JNephropathology 2013 2 2 90 97 10.5812/nephropathol.10449 24475433 9 Rafieian-Kopaei M Nasri H Nematbakhsh M Baradaran A Gheissari A Rouhi H Erythropoietin ameliorates gentamycin-induced renal toxicity: A biochemical and histopathological study J Nephropathology 2012 1 2 109 116 24475398 10 Nematbakhsh M Pezeshki Z Eshraghi-Jazi F Ashrafi F Nasri H Talebi A Vitamin E, Vitamin C, or Losartan Is Not Nephroprotectant against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Presence of Estrogen in Ovariectomized Rat Model Int J Nephrol 2012 2012 284896 23056943 11 Nematbakhsh M Talebi A Nasri H Safari T Dolatkhah S Ashrafi F Some evidence for sex-based differences in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats Clinical and Experimental Medical Letters 2012 53 1–229 31