title: Chemopreventive effect of five drugs on renal interstitial fibrosis induced by an aristolochic acid-containing Chinese herb in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study focuses on the chemopreventive effect of five drugs on renal interstitial fibrosis induced by an aristolochic acid-containing Chinese herb Mu-Tong.
  
  
  METHODS
  Renal interstitial fibrosis was induced in rats by administration of the Mu-Tong solution intragastrically for 6 weeks, and 36 rats were randomly divided into six groups: (1) Mu-Tong, (2) Mu-Tong + captopril, (3) Mu-Tong + losartan, (4) Mu-Tong + simvastatin, (5) Mu-Tong + spironolactone, and (6) Mu-Tong + diammonium glycyrrhizinate. Blood biochemistry and extracellular matrix were detected at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6. At the end of week 6, kidney tissue of all groups was evaluated with special Masson staining for the degree of renal fibrosis as well as regular histopathology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mu-Tong caused progressive elevation of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, hyaluronic acid, procollagen type III, and laminin. All five drugs suppressed elevation of blood biochemistry and extracellular matrix to some degree, but only the simvastatin group showed a significantly reduced percentage of positive Masson staining area in renal section compared to the Mu-Tong group (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study indicates that Mu-Tong induces a similar kidney injury with general characteristics in patients with renal interstitial fibrosis. All five different drugs have suppressive effects on Mu-Tong-induced renal function damage, and in particular, simvastatin shows a protective effect on development of Mu-Tong-induced renal interstitial fibrosis to a certain degree.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Taihe Hospital and Affiliated Hospital of Yunyang Medical College, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China. zhusaoming@msn.com
authors.forename: Shaoming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jiubo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Junxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Chaoxia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Zuojun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pingyong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D034341:Aristolochic Acids / Q000633:toxicity*; D002216:Captopril / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018890:Chemoprevention; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000633:toxicity*; D005355:Fibrosis; D019695:Glycyrrhizic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects; D019808:Losartan / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D009395:Nephritis, Interstitial / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D019821:Simvastatin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013148:Spironolactone / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D034341:Aristolochic Acids; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D013148:Spironolactone; D019695:Glycyrrhizic Acid; C000228:aristolochic acid I; D002216:Captopril; D019821:Simvastatin; D019808:Losartan