The influence of simvastatin on TGF-β1 and urinary albumin excretion rate in diabetic nephropathy

Objective To investigate the significance of changes in the levels of transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1) after treatment with simvastatin in patients with diabetic nephropathy.Methods 47 patients with diabetic mellitus were divided into two groups according to urinary albumin excretion rate,of whom 22 were diabetic patients without nephropathy(group A)and 25 patients with diabetic nephropathy (group B).The patients in group B were treated with simvastatin.The levels of TGF-β1 were detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),and the levels of urinary albumin were detected with radioimmunoassay(RIA).23 healthy subjects were used as controls.Results The levels of the serum TGF-β1 in the diabetic patients were significantly higher than those in controls.After the treatment with simvastatin,the levels of the serum TGF-β1 and the urinary albumin excretion rate in group B decreased gradually.Conclusion TGF-β1 may play an important role in development of diabetic nephropathy.Simvastatin may achieve its therapeutic effects in diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting the expression of TGF-β1.