Lycopene, the Anti-diabetic Nephropathy Phytochemical, Researchers Find

By Kyle J. Norton

Diabetic nephropathy (diabetic kidney disease) is a complication of kidney damage in diabetes.

Long-term unmanaged hyperglycemia has been found to damage parts of the kidneys, leading to reduced kidney function in filter waste from the blood filters, resulting in a  'leaky' syndrome that allows protein into your urine.

Diabetic nephropathy is the 3 stages of kidney change in patients with diabetes. In this stage, patients may experience symptoms of abnormally elevated urinary albumin excretion, compared to the 15 and 300 μg/min in the baseline situation.

The progression of diabetic nephropathy that leads to an increased rate in albumin excretion is higher in patients with increased blood pressure.

The condition in the advanced stage can lead to symptoms of worsening blood pressure, protein in the urine, swelling of feet, ankles, hands or eyes, increased need to urinate, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and persistent itching.

In severe cases, patients may also experience symptoms of confusion or difficulty concentrating.

More importantly, if high blood pressure is left uncontrol, diabetic nephropathy can induce persistent proteinuria >0.5 g/ 24 h that furtherly declines the renal function with the mean fall rate being around 1 ml/min/mo.

In other words, by treating hypertension and hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes, the progression of diabetics kidney disease may be slowed.

Some researchers suggested that by maintaining healthy blood glucose levels and keeping them within the target range and a change of healthful diet accompanied by moderate exercise, diabetic nephropathy can be control

Dr. Chijoke Onyenwenyi, "Kidney disease is common in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus and is associated with adverse health outcomes, including progression to end-stage renal disease. In the general population, adherence to a healthy lifestyle is known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and death".

And, "Among individuals with diabetic kidney disease, modifications in lifestyle factors, including diet, physical activity, smoking habits, and body mass index, represent a promising cost-effective therapeutic adjunct to pharmacologic treatment of kidney disease incidence and progression". 

Lycopene is a phytochemical found in tomato in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and performs various functions in photosynthesis.

With an aim to find a potent compound for the treatment of diabetic complications, researchers examined the effects of lycopene, a carotenoid, on oxidative stress-induced the progression of diabetic nephropathy.

According to the tested assays, lycopene inhibited the menace ad oxidative stress and stress markers associated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) both in vitro and in vivo.

Furthermore, lycopene decelerated the ribose induced AGE formation in the normal adult human kidney. (HK-2) cells and in rat kidneys thereby inhibiting the expression RAGE involved in the inflammatory response, leading to reduced levels of nuclear factor κB (NFκB) and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP 2) expressions.

Where nuclear factor κB (NFκB) and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP 2) expressions. are associated with cytokine production under oxidative stress.

Most importantly, nephropathy (DN) induced by the administration of ribose was totally inhibited by the injection of lycopene.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote, "lycopene provides protection against the development of diabetic nephropathy and ameliorates renal function by halting AGE-RAGE axis".

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered supplements for the protection against the risk of diabetic nephropathy in diabetics, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplements 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) Lycopene powers the inhibition of glycation-induced diabetic nephropathy: a novel approach to halt the AGE-RAGE axis menace by Tabrez S1, Al-Shali KZ2, Ahmad S. (PubMed)
(2) Beneficial effect of lycopene on anti-diabetic nephropathy through diminishing inflammatory response and oxidative stress by Guo Y1, Liu Y, Wang Y. (PubMed)
(3) Impact of Lifestyle Modification on Diabetic Kidney Disease by Chijoke Onyenwenyi, MD and Ana C. Ricardo, MD, MPH. (PMC)