Quercetin Shows Promise in Fighting Kidney Damage and Disease Including COVID-19 Induced Kidney Complications
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jul 20, 2025 4 hours, 45 minutes ago
Thailand Medical News: Natural plant compound found to protect kidneys from damage caused by diabetes inflammation and viral infections.
Researchers from Mudanjiang Medical University in China have released compelling findings on the powerful role that quercetin—a natural compound found in many fruits and vegetables—can play in preventing and treating various kidney diseases. This
Thailand Medical News report explores the therapeutic effects of quercetin on conditions like acute kidney injury (AKI), renal fibrosis (RF), and diabetic nephropathy (DN), which are leading contributors to chronic kidney disease (CKD) affecting nearly 10 percent of the global population.
Quercetin Shows Promise in Fighting Kidney Damage and Disease Including COVID-19 Induced Kidney Complications
The study was led by scientists from multiple departments within Mudanjiang Medical University, including the College of Life Sciences, the Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-Fibrosis Biotherapy, the School of Graduate Studies, and the Department of Neurology at Hongqi Hospital. The team reviewed the mechanisms by which quercetin, a type of flavonoid, helps protect the kidneys and slow disease progression.
How Quercetin Shields the Kidneys
Quercetin is known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic properties. In this review, researchers highlighted how it fights oxidative stress and inflammation—two major drivers of kidney cell damage. In AKI, which often arises from infections or reduced blood flow, quercetin was found to reduce inflammation and inhibit ferroptosis (a type of cell death linked to iron overload). It achieves this by regulating several cellular pathways, including blocking TLR4/NF-κB signaling and boosting antioxidant defenses like glutathione and the enzyme GPX4.
Remarkably, quercetin also helps in COVID-19-related kidney complications. The SARS-CoV-2 virus targets the kidneys in severe cases, and the study found that quercetin blocked virus-induced damage by interfering with Smad3 signaling—stopping kidney cells from prematurely shutting down.
Reversing Fibrosis and Halting Diabetic Kidney Damage
In chronic conditions like renal fibrosis, quercetin was shown to prevent scar tissue buildup by modulating TGF-β1/Smad signaling and by encouraging the body’s natural waste-clearing processes in kidney cells. The compound also reprograms immune cells—especially macrophages—so they reduce inflammation instead of worsening it.
For diabetic nephropathy, which causes gradual kidney failure in people with diabetes, quercetin was found to regulate blood sugar, reduce oxidative damage, and improve insulin resistance. It helped restore healthy kidney structure and reduced levels of harmful molecules linked to diabetic tissue damage.
Researchers emphasized that quercetin also works at the genetic level by modulating key molecules involved in cell death, inflammation, and energy metabolism.
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A Natural Option with Multi Target Benefits
Quercetin’s ability to interact with numerous biological pathways makes it a unique multi-target therapy. Its low toxicity, antioxidant power, and anti-inflammatory action support its potential use as a complementary therapy for kidney disease. While more clinical trials are needed, researchers believe quercetin could soon become part of future treatment strategies for kidney patients.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332225005529
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