The Effects of Origanum Majorana on Oxidative Stress and Histopathology of Renal Tissue among Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Background: diabetes type 1 has a variety of destructive effects on different parts of the body including kidney tissue. diabetic nephropathy is among the serious complications of diabetes. oxidative stress plays a central role in the development of diabetic nephropathy with glomeruli dilation. objectives: due to the known anti-oxidant and anti-diabetic effects of origanum majorana (om), this study was conducted to survey its effects on oxidative stress and histopathology of renal tissue among diabetic rats. materials and methods: in this experimental investigation, 32 male rats, weighing 200 - 250 g, were divided into four groups: 1: control, 2: control receiving treatment with om, 3: diabetic, and 4: diabetic receiving treatment with om. diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg). groups under treatment received food containing 6.25% of om. tissue levels of malondialdehyde (mda) were measured to evaluate the oxidative stress. in addition, renal histopathology was evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin (h & e) staining. data were analyzed using anova. results: a significant increase in the renal tissue level of mda was observed in diabetic and om-treated diabetic groups versus control group (p = 0.01 and p = 0.04, respectively). om treatment non-significantly reduced the tissue level of mda (p = 0.11). also, diabetes caused a significant increase in glomerular size compared to the control group (p = 0.03), and treatment of diabetic rats with om caused a nonsignificant decrease in glomerular size compared to the diabetic group (p = 0.17). conclusions: taken together, long term treatment of diabetic rats with om can partially protect the renal tissue via attenuation of oxidative stress and glomerular expansion.