Luteolin alleviates renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats by inhibiting metalloenzymes expression

Diabetes patients are more prone to acute kidney injury (AKI). Endopeptidases known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) cause extracellular matrix destruction and are responsible for ischemic organ damage. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) affects almost one third of all diabetic patients. MMP-2 and MMP-9 lead to the breakdown of the basement membrane of the glomeruli and thereby the advancement of ischemic injury in diabetes. In addition, histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC-2) is the primary regulator of important signalling processes in the diabetic kidney. A possible treatment approach for diabetic kidney preservation is the flavonoid luteolin (LT), which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Our aim was to investigate the renoprotective potential of LT in diabetes by modulating MMP-2, MMP-9 and HDAC-2 activity. The expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and HDAC-2 were statistically higher in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat renal homogenate after renal ischemic reperfusion injury. These changes were reversed with 2 weeks of pre-treatment with LT (50 mg/kg po). In diabetic rats, pre-treatment with LT significantly reduced oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis compared to control animals. Preventive LT prior to renal ischemia showed improvement in body weight, kidney weight/body weight ratio, reversal of renal injury and biochemical changes with lower activity of malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), hydroxyproline (HP), pathological damage and fibrosis in renal tissue. Our data imply that LT prevents DN in rats by inhibiting MMP-2, MMP-9 and HDAC-2 expression, as well as by lowering the indices of oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory factors and fibrosis.