Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy is a life-threatening complication in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Kigelia africana and Boswellia serrata have been used in treatment of a wide variety of diseases, including diabetes and other inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to study the effect of Boswellia and Kigelia extracts on experimental diabetic nephropathy in rats and their mechanism of action. Eighty adult Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed into four groups 20 animals each. One group was left as a healthy control. Experimental diabetes was induced in the other groups by using streptozotocin for 4 weeks; the 2nd diabetic control group was left without treatment. The 3rd group received Kigelia extract while the 4th one was treated by Boswellia extract. Blood samples and kidney specimen were collected and subjected to biochemical and histopathological analysis. In the treated animals, the results showed significant improvement in blood glucose level, serum albumin, creatinine and urine microalbumin. Parallel histopathological examinations revealed that the used plants extracts ameliorated the pathological changes of the diabeteic nephropathy including the glomerular sclerosis; glomerular area and tuft area compared to untreated group. IL-6 and IL-10 expression were improved in the treated group. These results indicate that both Boswellia and Kigelia extracts minimize the lesions of diabetic nephropathy and could be useful in improving the pathological alterations of parenchymal organs associated with diabetes.
Highlights
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a consequent serious and progressive fate of microvascular complications of either type 1or type 2 diabetes mellitus since DN is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
Rats received vehicle or extract orally by stomach tube for four weeks as follows: Group I: Healthy untreated rats; group II: Diabetic control rats; group III: Diabetic rats treated by Kigelia africana and group IV: Diabetic rats treated by Boswellia serrata
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Summary
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a consequent serious and progressive fate of microvascular complications of either type 1or type 2 diabetes mellitus since DN is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Medicinal plants showed beneficial effects and improved glucose homeostasis in diabetic patients (Huseini et al, 2012). The Kigelia plant has many therapeutic properties due to the presence of numerous secondary metabolites. These compounds include iridoids, flavonoids, naphthaquinones and volatile constituent, etc. The methanolic extract of Kigelia has an average free radical scavenging activity (comparable to that of Vitamin C) and phytochemical constituents which might be useful for further studies to unravel novel treatment strategies for diseases associated with free radical induced tissue damage (Nasiru and Oluwasegun 2014). Boswellia is a medicinal plant that has been traditionally used in India to treat various diseases including inflammatory conditions, arthritis, cardiac disorders and pain (Śallakī 2001).
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