Kidney protective effect of acalypha indica linn. root extract in high-fructose and high-cholesterol diet-fed rats

Diet high in fructose and cholesterol may lead to the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). One of the first drugs of choice in DN treatment is captopril. Prolonged use of this drug may lead to some adverse effects and the treatment can be optimized through using other therapy options. Acalypha indica Linn. (AI) may be an alternative herbal therapy for DN. The objective of this research is to investigate the renoprotective effect of AI on DN. For seven weeks, thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into groups receiving normal diet and high-fructose and high-cholesterol diet (HFCD). Then, the HFCD-fed rats were divided into four groups receiving different treatment: negative control, AI root extract (250 mg/kgBW), captopril (2.5 mg/kgBW), and combination of captopril and AI. Normal diet group was divided into AI and no treatment. After four weeks of treatment, the rats were terminated and serum urea and creatinine levels were measured. In the normal group, AI therapy decreased serum urea and creatinine levels. In the HFCD groups, AI and captopril monotherapy groups had increased serum urea levels, but lower compared to negative control. Meanwhile, serum creatinine levels decreased in both groups. However, these findings are not statistically significant. We found that combination therapy group had the highest increase in serum urea level, which was significantly different with captopril group (p=0.01). Serum creatinine level was also increased in this group. Our present study showed that AI tend to reduce serum urea and creatinine levels in normal diet group and inhibit the increase of serum urea and creatinine levels in rats fed with HFCD diet. Antagonistic interaction between captopril and AI might be present.