Effect of EGCG on Renal Interstitial Fibrosis in Rats

Objective To study the influence of total(-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) on the renal interstitial fibrosis caused by unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO) in rats.Methods 30 healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the UUO group,sham-operation group,and EGCG-treated group.The rats in UUO group and sham-operation group received gastric garage with normal saline for 3 days before operation;rats in EGCG-treated group received EGCG(20 mg/kg by daily gastric garage for 3 days),respectively.All rats were killed 8 days after operation and the expression of transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)was detected by immunohistochemical method.The dynamic histological changes of renal interstitial tissues were observed by HE and Masson staining.Results TGF-β expression in EGCG-treated groups(1.94±0.31) was significantly lower than that in UUO group(3.11±0.39)(p0.01).EGCG obviously reduced TGF-βexpression and collagen deposition in the renal interstitial tissue and improved the renal pathological changes in UUO rats.Conclusion EGCG can evidently inhibit UUO-induced renal interstitial fibrosis in rats,which might be related with the down regulation of TGF-β expression.