Streptozotocin and diabetes: Modulatory role of an aqueous extract of cactus on kidney histo-architecture of model

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The prevalence of DM globally in 2019 was estimated to be 9.3% of the world’s population. Complications of DM include nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, stroke and coronary heart disease. Traditional plants have been used in the management of diabetes mellitus, an example is the cactus plant. This study aimed to shade more light on the effect of an aqueous extract of cactus on the kidney histo-architecture of the diabetic Wistar rats. Thirty adult male Wistar rats weighing between 160-200g and were randomly grouped into five consisting of six rats each: group A. normal control, group B. diabetic only, group C. diabetic treated with Cactus and group D. diabetes treated with Metformin only and group E Cactus extract only. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin of 70mg/kg/body weight. After 72 hours of uninterrupted diabetes (blood glucose≥ 7mmol). The cactus extract and Metformin was administered orally at 100 mg/kg body weight daily for four weeks and blood glucose level were recorded weekly. After the fourth week of administration, animals were sacrificed by euthanasia. The kidneys from all the groups were weighed and their weight recorded and were fixed in 10% formal saline. Data was analyzed using one way ANOVA p<0.05 was considered significant and the graphs were plot using excel. The findings of this study showed that the blood glucose level of Diabetic +Cactus group and diabetes + Metformin were significant when compared to the diabetic group (p<0.05). The body weight and relative organ weight of Diabetic +Cactus group and diabetes+ Metformin when compared to the diabetic group was significant P<0.05. Histologically, the diabetic group that showed disruption of macula densa and a large urine space compared to the Wistar rats in the Diabetes+cactus group and Diabetes+metformin group that showed little disruption in macula densa were observed. From the results obtained, the aqueous cactus extract has the ability to lower blood glucose level in diabetic Wistar rat and is histologically renoprotect to the damage caused by Diabetes mellitus.