Phytochemical Betanin Protects the Kidney Against Renal Fibrosis

By Kyle J. Norton

Renal fibrosis is a condition of abnormal healing of the kidney tissues after injury, caused by the formation of scars in the kidney.

Renal scarring has been found to gradually reduced the renal function, leading to end-stage renal failure, depending on the severity and the area of scarring forming.

Patients at the end stage of renal failure may require dialysis or kidney transplantation.

Conventionally, as of today, there are no effective treatments for preventing the progression of renal fibrosis. Treatments of renal fibrosis are to delay the progression, reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life in the patients and caregivers.

Believe it or not, according to the statistics, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal fibrosis affect half of the adults above age 70 and 10% of the world's population.

Although the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of renal fibrosis suggest complex genetic and environmental influences on the development of fibrosis, some researchers suggested that aging may be one of the major factors induced the onset of the condition.

Dr. Hai-Chun Yang, the lead scientist wrote, "Glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis increase in the aging kidney, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decreases with increasing age. Decreases in stem cell number and function contribute to renal aging".

The findings strongly suggested there is an increased risk of renal fibrosis in the aging population

Betanin is Phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments of Betacyanins, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of renal fibrosis, researchers examined the bioactive compound found in the fruits of Opuntia elatior Mill anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activity.

According to the previous study, oral administration of betanin exerted a protective effect against high glucose-induced rat renal epithelial cell fibrosis and matrix accumulation, major features of diabetic nephropathy (DN).

In streptozotocin (STZ) induced DN left in diabetes condition without any treatment during the following 4 weeks, following by orally administered Betanin (25, 50 and 100mg/kg/day) and lisinopril (5mg/kg/day, reference compound) for 8 weeks after the induction of DN.

According to the tested assays, betanin significant inhibited the expression of proteinuria, blood glucose, serum creatinine and BUN levels caused by the injection of streptozotocin (STZ).

Betanin also restored the levels of antioxidant enzymes in the kidney tissues which were reduced by the STZ, produced by the host.

In other words, betanin protected the kidney injury in the diabetic model through a number of factors, including reduced levels of proteinuria, blood glucose.

Furthermore, betanin not only inhibited the formation of renal fibrosis but also prevented the kidney against glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in tested animals.

Finally, betanin protected the kidney against the onset of fibrosis by modulating the mRNA and function of protein expression associated with cellular differentiation, apoptosis, fibrogenesis, and network-forming collagen and tumor suppression against alternation of kidney cell DNA.

In other words, betanin not only protected the kidney against the formation of renal fibrosis but also inhibited the function of proteins associated with the alternation of the inflammatory kidney cells DNA.

Dr. Sutariya B the leads scientists said, "The results conclude that betanin can effectively suppress renal fibrosis in DN, and may slow down the progression to end-stage renal disease by regulating TGF-β signal path".

Taken altogether, betanin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of renal fibrosis, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of betanin in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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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.

Sources
(1) Betanin, isolated from fruits of Opuntia elatior Mill attenuates renal fibrosis in diabetic rats through regulating oxidative stress and TGF-β pathway by Sutariya B1, Saraf M2. (PubMed)
(2) Fibrosis and renal aging by Hai-Chun Yang1 and Agnes B Fogo. (PMC)