MOLECULAR EFFECTS OF QUINOA ON RAT KIDNEY: A DOSE-DEPENDENT STUDY ON PYROPTOSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE

Abstract

Oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to renal dysfunction, and antioxidant-rich functional foods may modulate these processes. This study evaluated the effects of dietary quinoa on oxidative stress and the expression of pyroptosis, inflammation and apoptosis-related genes in healthy rat kidneys. Forty male Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to control and diet groups containing 5%, 10% or 20% quinoa for six weeks (n=10). Rat body weight, superoxide dismutase activity, glutathione, and malondialdehyde levels in kidney tissue were measured; expression of nine genes was assessed in a representative subgroup using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Quinoa dose-dependently increased antioxidant markers, reduced lipid peroxidation, and downregulated inflammasome (Nlrp3, Casp-1,Gsdmd), inflammatory (Nf-κB, IL-1β, Tnf-α), and apoptotic (Bax,Casp-3) genes, while increasing Bcl2 expression, with the greatest effects at 10% and 20% quinoa. These findings provide evidence that dietary quinoa beneficially modulates renal molecular pathways involved in oxidative stress and inflammatory responses under physiological conditions.

Keywords

• Antioxidants
• quinoa
• inflammasomes
• kidney
• oxidative stress
• pyroptosis

Ethical Statement

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Local Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments of Atatürk University (HADYEK; meeting date 30.03.2026, session no. 2026/04, decision no. 44).

KİNOANIN SIÇAN BÖBREĞİ ÜZERİNDEKİ MOLEKÜLER ETKİLERİ: PİROPTOZ VE ANTİOKSİDAN SAVUNMA ÜZERİNE DOZA BAĞLI BIR ÇALIŞMA

Abstract

Oksidatif stres ve inflamasyon böbrek fonksiyon bozukluğuna katkıda bulunur ve antioksidan açısından zengin fonksiyonel gıdalar bu süreçleri düzenleyebilir. Bu çalışma, diyetle alınan kinoanın sağlıklı sıçan böbreklerinde oksidatif stres ve piroptoz, inflamasyon ve apoptoz ile ilgili genlerin ekspresyonu üzerindeki etkilerini değerlendirdi. Kırk erkek Wistar albino sıçan, altı hafta boyunca rastgele kontrol ve %5, %10 veya %20 kinoa içeren diyet gruplarına ayrıldı (n=10). Sıçan vücut ağırlığı, süperoksit dismutaz aktivitesi, glutatyon ve böbrek dokusundaki malondialdehit seviyeleri ölçüldü; dokuz genin ekspresyonu, kantitatif gerçek zamanlı polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu kullanılarak temsili bir alt grupta değerlendirildi. Kinoa, doz bağımlı olarak antioksidan belirteçlerini artırdı, lipid peroksidasyonunu azalttı ve inflamasyon (Nlrp3, Casp-1, Gsdmd), inflamasyon (Nf-κB, IL-1β, Tnf-α) ve apoptotik (Bax, Casp-3) genlerini aşağı yönlü düzenlerken, Bcl2 ekspresyonunu artırdı; en büyük etkiler %10 ve %20 kinoa oranlarında gözlendi. Bu bulgular, diyetle alınan kinoanın fizyolojik koşullar altında oksidatif stres ve inflamatuar yanıtlarla ilgili böbrek moleküler yollarını faydalı bir şekilde düzenlediğine dair kanıt sağlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Antioksidanlar
• kinoa
• inflamazomlar
• böbrek
• oksidatif stress
• piroptozis

Ethical Statement

Çalışma protokolü, Atatürk Üniversitesi Yerel Hayvan Deneyleri Etik Kurulu (HADYEK) tarafından incelenmiş ve onaylanmıştır (toplantı tarihi 30.03.2026, oturum no. 2026/04, karar no. 44).

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