¹Research scholar, UIPS, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab, India
²Associate Professor, UIPS, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab, India
³Professor, Saraswati College of Pharmacy, Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab, India DOI : 10.29228/jrp.844 The objective of the present study was to determine the renoprotective activity of Embelia tserjiam-cottam fruit extract in a streptozotocin-induced model of diabetic nephropathy in rats. The renoprotective effect of the ethanolic extract of Embelia tserjiam-cottam (EET) fruit (200mg/kg BW and 400 mg/kg BW) was studied by measuring blood glucose levels, body weight, kidney hypertrophy, serum and urine creatinine, urine microalbumin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels. Levels of enzymes like malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GSH), and catalase was also measured. Renal histopathology studies were carried out. Treatment with the high dose of EET 400mg/kg BW caused a significant decrease (p<0.05) in blood glucose level, a decrease in renal hypertrophy, a decrease in serum creatinine, an increase in urine creatinine, a decrease in urine microalbumin, decrease in BUN and HbA1C. Oxidative stress decreased significantly on treatment with the high dose of the extract as confirmed by the levels of various antioxidant enzymes like MDA, SOD, GSH, and catalase. Treatment with Ramipril 5mg/kg BW also decreased the progression of renal damage. Histopathology studies of the kidneys showed less glomerular damage in the Ramipril and EET 400mg/kg BW groups. A combination of EET 400mg/kg with Ramipril showed better results than treatment with Ramipril alone. The present study has shown the renoprotective activity of the ethanolic extract of Embelia tserjiam-cottam fruit. The combination of the extract with Ramipril further attenuated the renal damage, indicating that EET can be used as an adjuvant along with other established agents to prevent the progression of renal damage in diabetic patients. Keywords : Diabetic nephropathy; urine albumin; embeliatserjiam-cottam; renal hypertrophy; oxidative stress