Effect of curcumin(姜黄素) on trans-differentiation of renal tubular epithelial cells in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction

Objective: To investigate the effect of curcumin(姜黄素) on trans-differentiation of renal tubular epithelial cells in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO).Methods: UUO rat animal models were used.Twenty four rats were randomly divided into three groups(each n=8): sham operation group(0.9% saline),model group(dimethyl sulphoxide),and curcumin treatment group.Two days after the establishment of the model,curcumin 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 was given intra-peritoneally in curcumin treatment group.All rats were killed 4 weeks after surgery.Firstly,the blood obtained from heart puncture was used for the examination of blood urea nitrogen(BUN) and serum creatinine(SCr) in each rat.Secondly,the degree of tubulointerstitial fibrosis was scored by hematoxylin and eosin(HE) and Masson staining,and the sites and levels of protein expression of transforming growth factors,type beta1(TGF-β1), α-smooth muscle antibody(α-SMA) and Vimentin were detected by immunohistochemistry staining.Results: Compared with shame-operation group,the BUN level was significantly increased(P0.01),and the relative area of interstitial fibrosis was also significantly enlarged in the model group(P0.01).Compared with shame-operation group,the expression of TGF-β1,α-SMA and Vimentin protein was significantly up-regulated in their kidney tissue(all P0.01).After intervention with curcumin, the upregulation of the above-mentioned parameters was significantly inhibited(P0.05 or P0.01).Conclusion: The ameliorating effect of curcumin on renal interstitial fibrosis may be partly mediated by inhibiting the trans-differentiation of renal tubular epithelial cells towards myofibroblast in rats with UUO.