Protection mechanisms of Bushen Huoxue Decoction in adriamycin-induced nephropathy rats

Objective:To investigate the protective effect and its possible mechanism of Bushen Huoxue Decoction on renal glomerulosclerosis in the adriamycin(ADR)-induced nephropathy rats.Methods:SD rats with unilateral nephrectomy were randomly divided into three groups:control group,model group and Bushen Huoxue Decoction group.The glomerulosclerosis rat model was established by adriamycin injection and unilateral nephropathy.Renal PAS and Masson staining were used to assess the severity of glomerulosclerosis after the rats were treated for 8 weeks.Additionally,24-hour urinary protein excretion and renal function were detected.Expression of nephrin and α-SMA were examined by immunohistochemistry.Results:Compared with the control group,the values of BUN,Scr and 24-hour urinary protein excretion were significantly increased in model group rats,accordingly,more severe glomerular and tubular lesions presented in their kidneys(P0.01).Compared with the control group,renal expression of nephrin in model group rats was significantly reduced,while the expression of α-SMA was significantly enhanced(P0.01).Bushen Huoxue Decoction treatment significantly decreased the level of BUN,Scr,24-hour urinary protein excretion and renal lesions,up-regulated glomerular expression of nephrin and down-regulated renal expression of α-SMA as well(P0.05).Conclusion:Bushen Huoxue Decoction could slow down the progression of chronic renal failure in adriamycin-induced nephropathy rats.Its mechanism may be due to the inhibiting the loss of glomerular nephrin and renal expression of α-SMA.