title: [Effect of Astragalus injection on platelet function and plasma endothelin in patients with early stage diabetic nephropathy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the therapeutic effect of Astragalus injection (AI) in treating early stage diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The total of 136 early diabetic nephropathy patients were randomly divided into two groups, 50 cases in the conventional treated group and 86 in the AI treated group, the therapeutic course being 3 weeks. Levels of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1), 24 hrs urinary albumin excretion rate (uAER), and platelet granule membrane protein (GMP-140), 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha(6-keto-PGF1 alpha), and thromboxane B2(TXB2) before and after treatment were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively. Moreover, the above-mentioned criteria in 26 healthy subjects were also measured for control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The plasma ET-1, GMP-140, TXB2 and uAER levels in DN patients were higher, but 6-keto-PGF1 alpha level was lower than those in healthy subjects. The above elevated criteria in DN patients could be lowered by AI treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pathogenesis and development of DN might be closely associated with the changes of plasma ET-1 level and platelet function. Astragalus could improve the above-mentioned changes in patients of early stage DN.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Huaihe Hospital, Kaifeng Medical School, Henan 475000.
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Q Z
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D015121:6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D027885:Astragalus propinquus / Q000737:chemistry*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000097:blood; D008517:Phytotherapy; D015539:Platelet Activation; D013929:Thromboxane B2 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D019332:Endothelin-1; D019007:P-Selectin; D013929:Thromboxane B2; D015121:6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha