Diabetes mellitus being a global epidemic with approximately 40% of the patients resulting in diabetic nephropathy (DN). There is a need for development and further clinical application of the safe natural drugs for the prevention and treatment of DN. Scientific data concerning medicinal plants and their individual active substances with the potential to be used for the treatment of DN have been collected and summarized. The extracts of Astragalus membranaceus, Ginkgo biloba, Silybum marianum and Juglans regia, which were used in several clinical trials, exhibited nephroprotective action, with different mechanisms. Individual active substances, derived from plants, curcumin and breviscapine, applied in clinical trials, possessed positive impact for kidney activity in DN patients.
