ABSTRACT
Tetrapleura tetraptera Taub (Mimosaceae) popularly called Aridan, in the Yoruba speaking area
of South Western Nigeria is a popular medicinal plant with many ethnomedical uses such as antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemia, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, contraceptive and as a nutritive agent. This study was designed to demonstrate the potential effects of total saponin fractions of T. tetraplera stem bark on histology of the kidney of streptozotocin-induceddiabetic Wistar rats. Saponin fractions of T. tetraptera stem bark were orally administered to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at 10, 20 and 40mg/kg body weight (Groups 4, 5 and 6). The effects of saponin fractions on the histology of the kidney of all the diabetic treated rats were compared with the diabetic untreated rats (Group 2), after 12 weeks of treatment. The results obtained after the treatment of diabetic rats with metformin, and graded doses (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight ) of TTS showed that in the kidneys of the untreated diabetic group, there was deposition of proteinous materials in tubular lumen (Thyroidization) and compression of the glomerular tuft of capillaries (Kimestiel-Wilson nodule). However, the standard drug metformin and graded doses of TTS resolved the lesions remarkably in the kidneys with all histological slides showing normal tubules and glomeruli. This study has shown scientifically that treatment of STZ-induced diabetic rats with TTS in a dose dependent-manner could help restore to normal the glomerulus and tubules, and reduce compression of the glomerular tuft of capillaries (Kimestiel-Wilson nodule) in kidneys.
Keywords: Tetrapleura tetraptera, Diabetes mellitus, Streptozotocin, and Histology
