Figure 1.

Timeline representation of the experimental design. Male Wistar rats weighing between 180 and 240 g were divided into two groups: control (CTRL) and diabetes mellitus (DM). The CTRL group received an intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 mol/L citrate buffer (pH 4.7) and the DM group received an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 45 mg kg⁻¹ body weight. After 4 weeks, both groups were killed for blood and kidney collection; 24 h before that, the animals were placed in a metabolic cage, which allowed urine collection and measurement of renal function.