Background: Diabetic nephropathy is a major microvascular complication of diabetes
and a primary cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. This study was designed to
assess whether control of hyperglycemia with empagliflozin, a new sodium glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 2 inhibitor could improve the renal functions in streptozotocin
induced diabetic rats. Thirty two adult male albino rats were randomly assigned into four
equal groups. Group I; non diabetic control, Group II; non diabetic rats treated with
empagliflozin, group III; diabetic rats and group IV; diabetic rats treated with
empagliflozin. Diabetic rats treated with empagliflozin showed significant increase in
body weight and significant reduction in Kidney weight, blood glucose and glycated
haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Empagliflozin also produced significant decrease in blood
urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, urinary albumin excretion (UAE), tumor necrosis
factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1). It also attenuated Kidney tissue oxidative stress. Empagliflozin showed a
renoprotective effect in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats through its glucose lowering
effect and by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, fibrosis and histopathological
alterations. SGLT-2 inhibitor seems to be a promising therapeutic strategy for managing
diabetes mellitus to slow the progression of diabetic nephropathy.