Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) injection suppresses kidney injury induced by iron overload in mice.
OBJECTIVE
Excessive iron can accumulate in the kidney and induce tissue damage. Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) injection is a traditional Chinese medicinal preparation used for preventing and treating chronic renal failure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of treatment with Danshen injection on iron overload-induced kidney damage.


METHODS
Mice were mock-treated with saline (control group) or given a single dose of iron dextran without treatment (iron overload group, 50 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks) or with daily treatments of low-dose Danshen (3 g/kg/day), high-dose Danshen (6 g/kg/day) or deferoxamine (100 mg/kg/day).


RESULTS
Treatment of iron-overloaded mice with Danshen injection led to significant improvements of body weight and decreased iron levels in the kidney. Danshen injection treatment also reduced concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and malondialdehyde and enhanced glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities. Histopathological examinations showed that Danshen injection ameliorated pathological changes and reduced iron deposition in kidneys of iron overloaded mice. Furthermore, the treatment was demonstrated to suppress apoptosis in nephrocytes.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicated that Danshen injection exerted significant renal protective effects in iron-overloaded mice, which were closely associated with the decrease of iron deposition and suppression of lipid peroxidation and apoptosis in the kidney.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Shengjiang
S
Guan
Juanjuan
J
Ma
Ying
Y
Zhang
Yonggang
Y
Gao
Yuanyuan
Y
Zhang
Xuan
X
Zhang
Na
N
Wang
Yun
Y
Xie
Jiangyan
J
Wang
Jianping
J
Zhang
Li
L
Chu
D000818:Animals; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000150:complications*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000293:injuries / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D010618:Phenanthrolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000737:chemistry*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010618:Phenanthrolines; C028972:dan-shen root extract; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase