1. Ursolic acid improves diabetic nephropathy via suppression of oxidative stress and inflammation in streptozotocin-induced rats
- Author
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Xu-Tao Wang, Jin-guo Zhao, Min-You Qi, Yin Cheng, Yu-jie Zhou, Jun-Jie Yang, and Hui-Lin Xu
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Kidney ,medicine.disease_cause ,Streptozocin ,Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Diabetic nephropathy ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,0302 clinical medicine ,Ursolic acid ,Internal medicine ,Diabetes mellitus ,medicine ,Animals ,Diabetic Nephropathies ,Saline ,Inflammation ,Pharmacology ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Streptozotocin ,medicine.disease ,Triterpenes ,Rats ,Oxidative Stress ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,chemistry ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Inflammation Mediators ,Telmisartan ,business ,Oxidative stress ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Overexpression of inflammatory chemokine and cytokines is involved in the development of DN. Ursolic acid (UA), a common pentacyclic triterpenoid compound, has been reported to have myriad benefits and medicinal properties. However, its protective effects against renal injury in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats have not been firmly established. In the current report, we investigated whether UA inhibits oxidative stress and inflammation in the kidneys of STZ-induced diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced by STZ (40 mg/ kg, i.v.). Animals were randomly divided into control group (normal saline, i.g.), DN group (normal saline, i.g.), DN + UA group (35 mg/kg UA + normal saline, i.g.) and DN + telmisartan group (12 mg/kg telmisartan + normal saline, i.g.). Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were monitored at regular intervals. The administration of compounds started at 5th week and lasted for 8 weeks. At the beginning of 13th week, rats were humanely euthanized, KW/BW, BUN, SCr, SOD and MDA were measured. Histopathological changes in renal tissue were observed after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Furthermore, the expressions of TNF-α, MCP-1 and IL-1β in kidney were determined by immunohistochemistry and western blot. Our results showed that UA significantly lowered the levels of FBG, KW/BW, BUN, SCr and MDA in diabetic rats. Additionally, the SOD activity in UA treated group was higher than that in DN group. Furthermore, renal structural abnormalities and the elevation of TNF-α, MCP-1 and IL-1β expression level were blocked by the administration of UA. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that UA could be well used as a protective agent to counter renal dysfunction - through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
- Published
- 2018