Impact of Chlorella pyrenoidosa on the attenuation of hyperglycemia-mediated oxidative stress and protection of kidney tissue in streptozotocin-cadmium induced diabetic nephropathic rats

Diabetic patients exposed to cadmium are at increased risk in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the renoprotective effect of unicellular algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa in experimental rats. The rats were randomized into six groups of six rats each. Group 1 and 2 served as control and C. pyrenoidosa control. Groups 3–6 received single intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of (40 mg/kg body weight) and Cd as CdCl2 (2 mg/kg body weight s.c) for 14 days. In addition, rats in groups 4–6 were administered CP 50 mg, 100 and 200 mg respectively. Increased plasma glucose, lipid peroxidation and serum urea, creatininine, urinary albumin associated with decreased plasma insulin and enzymic antioxidants in STZ+Cd alone treated rats showed the role of oxidative stress in the onset of hyperglycemia driven renal injury. Reversal of changes induced by STZ+Cd revealed the protective effect of by attenuating hyperglycemia mediated oxidative stress. The results of the present study implies that C. pyrenoidosa at a dose of 100 mg/ kg bodyweight exhibit more potential hypoglycemic and renoprotective properties than the other two tested doses. Supplementation of C. pyrenoidosa to STZ+Cd treated rats showed protection against oxidative stress in addition to its hypoglycemic effect. Further the histological examination of the kidney tissues confirmed the potential renoprotective effect of chlorella at 100 mg/kg bodyweight.