title: Qiwei granules alleviates podocyte lesion in kidney of diabetic KK-Ay mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chinese medicine comprised of all natural herbs is widespread used in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Podocyte contributes to the integrity of glomerular filtration barrier whose injury plays an important role in the initiation and progression of DN. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of Qiwei granules on podocyte lesion in diabetic KK-A(y) mice kidney and its underlying mechanism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve-week-old male KK-A(y) mice were randomly divided in vehicle group and Qiwei granules group, while C57BL/6J mice were used as normal control. The mice were gavage with 1.37 g/kg/day Qiwei granules or water for 10 weeks. We measured water, food intake and body weight (BW) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) every 2 weeks, and urine protein every 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment, all surviving mice were sacrificed. The kidney weight and serum renal parameters were measured, and the renal morphology was observed. To search the underlying mechanism, we examined the podocyte positive marker, slit diaphragm protein expression and some involved cell signal pathway.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Qiwei granules treatment significantly improved the metabolic parameters, alleviated the urinary protein, and protected renal function in KK-A(y) mice. In addition, the glomerular injuries and podocyte lesions were mitigated with Qiwei granules treatment. Furthermore, Qiwei granules increased expression of nephrin, CD2AP, and integrin alpha3beta1 in the podocytes of KK-A(y) mice. Qiwei granules improved the phosphoration of Akt and inhibited cleaved caspase-3 protein expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These finding suggest that Qiwei granules protects the podocyte from the development of DN via improving slit diaphragm (SD) molecules expression and likely activating Akt signaling pathway in KK-A(y) mice.
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. zhoujingxin2000@126.com.|Dongzhimen Hospital Eastern Affilated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 116 Cuiping West Road, 100029, Tongzhou District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. zhoujingxin2000@126.com.
authors.forename: Jingxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. sunweng00897@163.com.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8179, Japan. hisa4403@mukogawa-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hisae
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshitomi
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. lilinyi8567@163.com.
authors.forename: Linyi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. qllqxtslx@126.com.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. gxyc1003@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiangyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. qingniao_566@163.com.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. lyla111@126.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. wuxinli840711@163.com.
authors.forename: Xinli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. thxu@163.com.
authors.forename: Tunhai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8179, Japan. gaoming@mukogawa-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North 3rd-ring East Road, 100029, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. thliu@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Tonghua
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D039201:Integrin alpha3beta1 / Q000378:metabolism; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019684:Magnoliopsida; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008517:Phytotherapy; D050199:Podocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D015415:Biomarkers; C114545:CD2-associated protein; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D039201:Integrin alpha3beta1; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020011:Protective Agents; C113267:nephrin; D053148:Caspase 3