title: Effects of Astragaloside IV on diabetic nephropathy in rats.
abstract: The aims of this study were to explore the effects of Astragaloside IV on diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats. A total of 38 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into three groups: 10 in the normal (control) group, 14 in the DN model group, and 14 in the AS-IV group. Treatment began one week after the streptozotocin DN model was successfully established. Blood glucose and urine micro-albumin levels were measured every four weeks. After being treated for 12 weeks, all SD rats were sacrificed for blood and renal specimen collec-tion. Renal cortex specimens were observed after hematoxylin and eo-sin and Masson staining. Expression levels of protein β1, β1-integrin-linked protein kinase (ILK) and α-actinin-4 were also measured. After eight weeks of intervention, blood glucose levels in the AS-IV group decreased significantly when compared with those of the model group (P < 0.01). By the end of the twelfth week, the urine micro-albumin levels showed significant differences (P < 0.01) between the AS-IV and model groups, and the expression levels of integrin β1, ILK, and α-actinin-4 also showed significant differences (P < 0.05, respectively). Concomitantly, expression levels of integrin β1, ILK, and α-actinin-4 in the model group were significantly different from those of normal group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that AS-IV can be quite effective in decreasing blood glucose levels, reducing urine albumin excretion, and improving the adhesion function of potocytes, and can thus delay the development of DN.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Jinan University, Guanzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: W-S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: W-W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Jinan University, Guanzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: L-L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Jinan University, Guanzhou, Guangdong Province, China syzyklys@126.com.
authors.forename: Y-S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000185:Actinin / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D019012:Integrin beta1 / Q000235:genetics; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D012503:Saponins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000099200:Scaffold Protein ILK
chemical_list: D000185:Actinin; D019012:Integrin beta1; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D012503:Saponins; D014315:Triterpenes; D000099200:Scaffold Protein ILK; C491751:Actn4 protein, rat; C052064:astragaloside A