Empirical Study on Prevention and Treatment of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan in Diabetic Nephropathy Rats

Objcetivt: To investigate the role of the nephrin and podocin in podocytes slit diaphragm in diabetic nephropathy(DN) pathogenesis and study the mechanism of prevention and treatment this disease the effects of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan.Methods:The rat model of diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin(STZ),and diabetic rats were randomly divided into 2 groups by blood glucose concentration: STZ group(n=8) and LWDHW group(n=8).In addition,8 non-treated rats served as control group.All the rats were received daily gavage respectively for 8 weeks.8 weeks later,body weight and renal index were measured;total urinary protein in 24 h,blood urea nitrogen(BUN),serum creatinine(SCr) were detected with correlative methods and the pathological changes of kidney were also observed under light microscope.The nephrin and podocin protein in kidney tissue were also determined by Western blotting.Results:In DN rats,the levels of renal index,blood glucose concentration,total urinary protein in 24h,BUN,SCr were significantly higher and body weight lower than those in the control group(P0.01).Pathological examination of kidney in the DN group showed glomerular hypertrophy;glomerular basement membrane thickening;tubular epithelial cell degeneration;mesangial matrix proliferation;protein cast formation in some renal tubules.The protein expression levels of nephrin and podocin were markedly decreased(P0.01).After LWDHW intervention,the level of renal index,total urinary protein in 24 h,BUN,SCr were significantly lower and body weight was higher than those in the DN group(P0.05).The renal histological injury in treatment group was significantly ameliorated and the expression of nephrin and podocin at the protein level were upregulated markedly than those in the DN group(P0.05).Conclusion:LWDHW might protect kidney against STZ-induced injury via increasing the expression of nephrin and podocin in podocytes.