Medicinal plants and diabetic kidney disease; an updated review on the recent findings

In diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia happens as a consequence of complex metabolic disorders where immune, genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors cause an inadequate or lack of insulin secretion. Diabetic associated hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia increase susceptibility of various macro/micro vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, stroke, diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy. Among the various diabetic complications, nearly 40% of individuals are influenced diabetic nephropathy that may result from an interaction of hemodynamic, pro-inflammatory, metabolic and cellular organelles disorders. Hyperglycemia related injurious pathways induced diabetic nephropathy, include elevated oxidative stress, renal polyol and hexosamine pathway activation and AGEs formation that cause overproduction of pro-sclerotic mediators such as TGF-beta 1. This review has been directed to detail the role of diabetes induced oxidative damage in kidney disease pathogenesis, afterward summarize recently available evidence on the anti-diabetic properties of several plants, with special focus on their biological mechanisms.