RESUMEN
Nowadays, diabetes and its related methbolic disorders are the main cause of end stage renal disease. The present study aimed to investigate the possible therapeutic effects of Launaea acanthodes hydro-alcoholic extract administration on the serum and urine albumin and bilirubin levels in hyperglycemic rats. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups; the control, hyperglycemic [STZ; 55 mg/kg], hyperglycemia+ insulin [STZ+Ins; 5 IU/kg/day] and hyperglycemia+extract [STZ+Ext; 150 mg/kg/day]. Blood and urine samples were taken at the end of the 2[nd] and 4[th] weeks of experiment and serum and urine albumin and bilirubin levels were assessed. Although compared to the control group in the 2[nd] week samples in which the serum levels of bilirubin in STZ and STZ+Ext groups were significantly increased, in the 4[th] week only STZ group samples showed significant differences. In the 4[th] week urine samples the level of albumin was remarkably increased in STZ and STZ+Ins while there was no significant difference in the STZ+Ext group samples. These results clearly indicate the beneficial effect of L. acanthodes extract adiminstration in prevention of albumin loss through urine in hyperglycemic status. Therefore it may be concluded that L. acanthodes could be effective in the treatment of metabolic disorders