eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal 0974-6242 2018-03-25 11 1 285 303 10.13005/bpj/1373 19533 article Gehan A. Hegazy 1,2 Hesham N. Mustafa 3 Rawan M. Altalhi 4 Jehad M. Yousef 4 Clinical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Medical Biochemistry Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science-AlFaisaliah, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) represents the main reason for acute kidney injury (AKI). Dexmedetomidine (Dex) and Benincasa cerifera (BC) have wide benefits due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study aims to illustrate the protective effects of BC and Dex on renal IRI in a diabetic model. Sixty adult male albino rats (Wistar strain), weighing 250–300 g, were included in the study. The rats were divided into four groups, as follows: sham group: (non-diabetic); diabetes mellitus (DM) + IRI group: streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats exposed to renal IRI on day 30 after diagnosis of diabetes; DM + IRI + BC group: STZ-induced diabetic rats treated with BC (500 mg/kg) for 30 days after diagnosis of diabetes, then exposed to renal IRI; and DM + IRI + Dex group: STZ-induced diabetic rats treated with Dex (100 µg/kg intraperitoneally) 5 min before induction of ischemia on day 30 after diagnosis of diabetes, then exposed to renal IRI. Biochemical parameters, histopathological examination, and immunohistochemical markers were evaluated. A significant improvement in the biochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical parameters were  observed in the DM + IRI + BC group, while the DM + IRI + Dex group showed improvements in renal IRI and dyslipidemia. The present study demonstrated that oxidative stress plays a chief role in renal IRI in the STZ-induced diabetic model. Treatment with BC achieved excellent ameliorative effects, while treatment with DEX improved renal IRI. https://biomedpharmajournal.org/vol11no1/the-ameliorative-potential-of-dexmedetomidine-and-benincasa-cerifera-extract-in-renal-ischemiareperfusion-injury-in-a-streptozotocin-induced-diabetic-model/ Diabetes Dexmedetomidine Ischemia/Reperfusion Oxidative Stress