Abstract

Diabetes is directly involved in oxidative stress production. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the morphological and functional alterations caused by oxidative stress and to evaluate the antioxidant effect of quercetin nanoparticles (QUNPs) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic (type II) rats. Seventy two male albino adult rats were randomly distributed in 6 different experimental groups, with 12 animals per group: Normal Control (NC) group, Positive Control (PC) group received one dose of STZ (60 mg/kg body weight [bw]); QUNPs 10 mg/kg bw/day alone group; QUNPs 10 mg/kg bw/day + one dose of STZ (60 mg/kg bw) group; QUNPs 20 mg/kg bw/day alone group; and QUNPs 20 mg/kg bw/day + one dose of STZ (60 mg/kg bw) group. STZ-diabetic rats were treated with QUNPs (10 and 20 mg/kg bw/day) for 7 weeks to analyze their effects on markers of renal enzymes antioxidant [malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)], total protein and albumin, and also on kidney tissues. The results showed that the particle size of QUNPs is 16.13 nm at flow rate 10 ml/min. QUNPs especially at the dosage of 20 mg/kg bw/day gave results close to normal values observed in NC compared to PC. Also, histopathology of kidney sections for QUNPs 20 mg/kg bw/day + STZ and QUNPs (10 and 20 mg/kg bw/day) alone, appeared similar to NC. It can be concluded that QUNPs could become a promising adjuvant in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and can act as an antioxidant agent.

Key words: Diabetic, streptozotocin, free radical, antioxidant.