Effect of EGCG on renal interstitial fibrosis in rats

Objective To study the influence of total EGCG on the renal interstitial fibrosis caused by unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO) in rats.Methods 30 healthy SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the UUO,sham-operation and EGCG-treated groups(UUO+EGCG group).The rats in UUO and sham-operation groups received gastric gavage with normal saline for 3 days before operation.Rats in UUO+EGCG group received EGCG(20 mg/kg by daily gastric garage for 3 days),respectively.All rats were killed on 8 days after operation and the expression of transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) and p53 were detected by immunohistochemical method.The dynamic histological changes of renal interstitial tissues were observed by HE and Masson staining.Results p53 expression in UUO+ EGCG groups was significantly lower than that in UUO group.TGF-β expression(1.92±0.35) in UUO+EGCG groups was significantly lower than that(3.27±0.56) in UUO group(P0.01).The rats in UUO group had the decreased collagen deposition in renal interstitial tissues and the improved renal pathological changes.Conclusions EGCG can evidently inhibit UUO-induced renal interstitial fibrosis in rats,which might be related with the downregulation of TGF-β expression and prohibition cell injury.