Research Article Ruellia tuberosa L. Extract Improves Histopathology and Lowers Malondialdehyde Levels and TNF Alpha Expression in the Kidney of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats Anna Roosdiana , 1 Fajar Shodiq Permata , 2 Riera Indah Fitriani, 2 Khairul Umam, 2 and Anna Safitri 1,3 1 Chemistry Department, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, Malang, 65145, Indonesia 2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Brawijaya University, Puncak Dieng Ekslusif, Malang, 65151, Indonesia 3 Research Center for Smart Molecules of Natural Genetic Resources (SMONAGENES), Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, Malang, 65145, Indonesia Correspondence should be addressed to Anna Safitri; a.safitri@ub.ac.id Received 18 July 2020; Revised 18 September 2020; Accepted 21 September 2020; Published 14 October 2020 Academic Editor: Remo Lobetti Copyright © 2020 Anna Roosdiana et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Ruellia tuberosa L. is a therapeutic plant that is generally consumed in Indonesian traditional medicine to prevent or cure various illnesses, i.e., diabetes. e current study was conducted to investigate the effects of hydroethanolic root extracts of Ruellia tuberosa L. on the kidney of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats. In this study, male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: healthy rats (group 1), diabetic rats (group 2), and treated rats which received extract at dosages of 250 (group 3), 375 (group 4), and 500 (group 5) mg/kg body weight for 21 days. Diabetes mellitus was experimentally induced by the administration of five doses of streptozotocin 20mg/kg body weight within five consecutive days. Significant increases in the value of TNF alpha expression and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were observed in streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. Furthermore, severe histological alterations of kidney tissues occurred in the diabetic rats group. After treatment was applied, the value of TNF alpha expression and MDA levels on the kidney decreased considerably (p < 0.05) in groups 3, 4, and 5. e optimum dosage was obtainedatadoseof250mg/kgbodyweight(group3),whichhad42.24%and52.70%decreaseinTNFalphaexpressionandMDA levels,respectively.ehistopathologicalprofilesofthekidneyalsoshowedsignificantimprovementsintreatedgroups.emost prominent recoveries were also shown in group 3. e treatments induced repairment in the glomerular and renal tubular damages in the kidney tissues. To conclude, these results emphasize potentially health valuable properties of hydroethanolic root extracts of R. tuberosa L. in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. 1. Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders described by hyperglycemia that occurs due to defects such as insulin secretion, decreased sensitivity of insulin recep- tors, or both. is disease is considered as a serious health problemintheworldbecauseitispredictedthatthenumber of people with DM will continue to increase each year [1]. Generally,therearetwotypesofDM,namely,DMtype1,or referred to as insulin-dependent DM, and DM type 2, or referred to as noninsulin-dependent DM/NIDDM [2]. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the acute DM complications. In patients with DN, kidney histopatholog- ical damage is indicated by thickening of the glomerular basement membrane, expansion of mesangial cells, mac- rophage infiltration, damage of podocytes, and tubular epithelium disintegration [3, 4]. In recent years, oxidative stress is suggested as the major cause contributing to DN. e pathogenesis of DN can be caused by decreasing an- tioxidants action and increasing production of prooxidants [5]. In the diabetic state, hyperglycemia was suspected to generate inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and Hindawi Veterinary Medicine International Volume 2020, Article ID 8812758, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8812758