The effect of salacia extract on renal tubular transporters and transcription factors in diabetic rats

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is considered as a metabolic disorder, which produces many subclinical disorders. The objective of this present study to evaluate the potential protective role of Salacia extract on kidney damages in the rat model. Diabetes induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and low-dose of streptozotocin (STZ). Materials and Methods: The rats were organized into four groups as follows: (Group I) control fed a regular diet; (Group II) fed a regular diet and supplemented with Salacia extract (100 mg/kg, body weight (b.w) per day); (Group III) rats fed HFD and STZ injected (STZ, 40 mg/kg, i.p. (intraperitoneally)); (Group IV) rats fed HFD and STZ injected (STZ, 40 mg/kg, i.p.) and administrated Salacia extract (100 mg/kg, b.w per day). Results: The results in the HFD and STZ treated rats showed that malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and NF-kB protein expression significantly increased (P < 0.05), while markedly reduced (P < 0.05) the protein expression of OCT1, OCT2, OAT1, OAT3, GLUT2, Nrf2, HO-1, PPAR-α, and IRS-1 in comparison with the regular diet and the regular diet supplemented Salacia extract rats. On the other hand, supplementation of Salacia extract to the HFD and STZ treated rats significantly upregulated (P < 0.05) the expression of OCT1, OCT2, OAT3, GLUT2, Nrf2, HO-1, PPAR-α, and IRS-1, whereas markedly decreased (P < 0.05) the MDA levels. Conclusion: In conclusion, this present study suggests the protective role of Salacia extract on kidney damages in HFD-STZ induced diabetic rats, by promoting over-expression of cytoprotective proteins Nrf2, HO-1, and PPAR-α protein levels