Bilberry, The Kidney Protective Functional Remedy, Scientists Say

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a single herb for the treatment of kidney diseases without side effects, according to studies.

Kidneys are 2 bean shape organs found in the left and right side in the retroperitoneal space in the body.

The function of kidneys is to filter blood and control fluids. They are the second detoxed organs besides the liver and skin.

Due to millions of tiny filters called nephrons in each kidney, people may not experience any kidney dysfunction symptoms at an early stage.

Kidney diseases are a class of medical condition associated with reduced function of the kidney, in cases, complete loss of kidney function such as kidney failure.

Believe or not, in the US, the leading causes of kidney failure and the end stage of chronic kidney diseases are diabetes and high blood pressure.

Some researchers suggested that if the 2 causable conditions are under control, kidney failure and the end stage of chronic kidney diseases may be prevented or delayed.

According to the statistics, in the US, over 660,000 Americans have kidney failure, affecting 14% of the general population.

Dr. Hariharan D, the lead scientists in the concern of the negative impact of the Western diet on the risk of chronic kidney disease wrote, "Characteristics of the Western diet that fueled the obesity epidemic may also impact kidney disease incidence and progression".

And, "While dietary patterns high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in red meats, such as the Mediterranean diet, decrease the risk of chronic diseases, the Western diet, characterized by high intake of red meat, animal fat, sweets, and desserts and low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy products, increases risk of chronic diseases".

The findings strongly suggested that increased intake of fruits and vegetables and reduced intake of saturated and trans fat, processed food are the best ways to prevent the onset of kidney diseases.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The herbal plant has been used as foods and herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Researchers in finding a natural compound with kidney protective activity examined the bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus L.) extract anti kidney damage in an animal model.

In potassium bromate (KBrO3) induced kidney damage by observed through the increased levels of serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels, 5 day oral administration of bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus L.) extract at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg exerted a significant kidney protective activity by restoring the normal levels of reversal in serum BUN and creatinine.

Furthermore, injection of bilberry extract reduced the oxidative stress marker in the kidney and the levels of free radicals in the host body by improving the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) in kidney tissues.

The results strongly supported the kidney protective effect of bilberry extract by reducing the degree of oxidative stress and kidney damage induced by KBrO3.

Dr. Bao L and colleagues wrote in the final report, "The protective effect of bilberry extract is attributed to its free radical scavenging activity and lipid peroxidation inhibitory effect".

In order to reveal more information about bilberry antioxidant activity, researchers observed the kidney protective effect on bilberry diet in a rat model of nephrotoxicity.

Selected rats were divided into 4 groups: control, treated with only gentamicin, treated with only bilberry, and treated with both gentamicin and bilberry.

Injection of bilberry diet group (100 mg/kg daily) showed a strong nephroprotective effect against gentamicin toxicity in rats by inhibiting the oxidative stress marker and improving the production of antioxidants.

Additional differentiation of the bilberry antioxidant activity, researchers found that the protective activity of bilberry extract against kidney damage is attributed to antioxidant via its polyphenolic content, particularly the anthocyanin levels.

Taken altogether, bilberry processed high amount bioactive compounds may be considered a remedy for the prevention and  treatment of kidney damage, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References

(1) Protective effects of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) extract on KBrO3-induced kidney damage in mice by Bao L1, Yao XS, Tsi D, Yau CC, Chia CS, Nagai H, Kurihara H. (PubMed)(1)
(2) Bilberry: Chemical Profiling, in Vitro and in Vivo Antioxidant Activity and Nephroprotective Effect against Gentamicin Toxicity in Rats by Veljković M1, Pavlović DR2, Stojiljković N1, Ilić S1, Jovanović I3, Poklar Ulrih N4, Rakić V5, Veličković L6, Sokolović D. (PubMed)
(3) The Western Diet and Chronic Kidney Disease by Hariharan D1, Vellanki K, Kramer H. (PubMed)