Protective role of green tea on diabetic nephropathy—A review

Abstract

Nowadays, diabetes and diabetes-mediated dysfunctions are overwhelming at every nook and corner of the world which has been a sober concern to the current health care professionals. However, chronic hyperglycemic subjects often suffer from hypertension, atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, brain injury, and other dysfunctions due to high glucose level which lead to kidney failure. Altogether, diabetic nephritis, fibrosis, stenosis, iron overload, and hypertrophy may often escort towards diabetic nephropathy. Furthermore, hyperglycemia-generated free radical-mediated oxidative stress plays the central role to aggravate the condition. Oxidative stress also inhibits production of several natural antioxidant genes like Nrf2, Sirt1, PGC-1α, superoxide desmutase, and catalase. Similarly, production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL, TNF-α, MIP, α-SMA, and NF-κβ has been observed high in the diabetic subjects. High glucose inside the body also activates mitogen-activated protein kinase family and facilitates diabetic nephropathy. On the other hand, green tea (GT) is a widely used drink which has several protective functions. This plant possesses multiple cathecin, theoflavins, flavonoids, flavinol, caffeine, and other biological active components. Thus, this review will try to explain how GT-derived molecules prevent diabetic nephropathy, both by reducing free radical generation and improving insulin secretion. The molecular interactions between antioxidant genes and free radical-mediated oxidative stress will be explained through activation of AMPK and mTOR. Finally, this study will try to correlate the possible therapy strategy and molecular mechanism of GT to reduce the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.