Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR), the Hospital Universitario La Paz (Madrid), and the University of Texas (U.S.) have taken an important step in the fight against kidney damage and its progression toward kidney failure, which is closely related to diabesity (obesity with type 2 diabetes) and its complications.
Specifically, in two new studies recently published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine and Pharmaceuticals, researchers have developed an obese and diabetic rodent model and have shown that melatonin protects from kidney damage caused by diabesity.
Scientists have shown that chronic administration of melatonin at doses (10 mg/kg body weight/day) prevents mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum disruption, which play a critical role in the development and pathogenesis of kidney cell (nephron) damage, and its progression to renal failure.
Thus, it has been shown that melatonin prevents the impairment of the function and dynamics of cellular mitochondria, decreasing the increased production of oxygen free radicals (responsible for oxidative stress). It also prevents pathological alteration in the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (another cell cytoplasmic organelle), which, in conditions of abnormally high oxidative stress, is related to an increase in programmed cell death (of the nephron) leading to the loss of renal function, as a preliminary step to the development of renal failure and the need for hemodialysis or transplantation.
The studies coordinated by the UGR show the efficacy of melatonin in halting the progression of renal damage mediated by mitochondrial damage and excess endoplasmic reticulum stress.