Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common complication of diabetes. Several studies have been done in a trial to protect against this problem at the ultrastructure level. This study investigates the protective effect of oral administration of Acacia senegal (AS) against the development of DN. Sixty male albino rats were randomly divided into six groups: control, Acacia senegal control, Diabetic untreated, diabetic insulin-treated, Diabetic AS treated, and Diabetic insulin and AS combined treated groups. Plasma glucose, HbA1c, serum Albumin, creatinine, urine creatinine was measured using specific kits. Determinations of creatinine clearance and blood pressure were done. The renal tissues of both kidneys were prepared to investigate under both light (LM) and electron microscope (EM). Ultrastructure examination of renal rats tissue of diabetic untreated rats showed the destruction of the glomerular basement membrane and endothelial cells together with hemorrhage in glomerular capsules (Bowman's capsules). On the other side, both LM and EM revealed improving the endothelial cells and the other glomerular capsules structures, especially with the combined treated group, which confirmed the improvement of the biochemical investigation in the study. In conclusion, from the present study, using the oral AS together with SC insulin could be protected against the development of DN.