Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic comprised of a mixture of related gentamicin components and fractions and is used to treat many types of bacterial infections, particularly those caused by Gram-negative organisms. Herbal plants can be used for the prevention and treatment of kidney damage. Therefore, the nephroprotective activity of aqueous extract of Rosa damascena (250 and 500 mg/kg), Cichorium intybus (250 and 500mg/kg) and their mixture (250 and 500 mg/kg) was evaluated on gentamicin (80 mg/kg) induced toxicity in albino rabbits by using the standard drug silymarin (200 mg/kg). The study period was from 0-21 days and blood samples were collected at 0, 7^th, 14^th and 21^st day. The biochemical analysis was done by using the standard protocols and kit methods. Serum urea and creatinine are the reliable markers to access the renal function. The results were subjected to two way analysis of variance and Duncan Multiple Range test as applicable. The gentamicin caused a significant (P≤0.01) increase in levels of serum urea, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen and decrease in levels of serum albumin.  Statistically significant decrease in levels of serum urea, creatinine and  blood urea nitrogen and statistically significant increase in the levels of albumin was observed for both plants and their mixture in dose dependent manner as compared to untreated, gentamicin treated and silymarin treated control groups. All results were supported by significantly improved renal cortical histopathology and kidney weight observations. The findings suggested that aqueous extract of both plants and their mixture have marked nephroprotective activity in dose dependent manner which could be due to the inherent antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity contained in both plants.

Key words: Cichorium intybus, Gentamicin, Nephroprotection, Rosadamascene, Silymarin