Mechanism of action of irbesartan in treating proteinuria in diabetic nephropathy rats

Objectives This research aims to study the mechanism of action of Irbesartan in treating proteinuria in diabetic nephropathy (DN).Methods DN rat models were prepared with an intraperitoneal injection,which were then randomly divided into model group ( M group) and Irbesartan group ( I group).There was also a normal control group (C group).After 12 -week intervention,the following tests and measures were carried out for each group:(1) Blood glucose,serum creatinine (Cr),blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and 24 -hour urine protein level tests ; ( 2 ) Pathological tests,immunohistochemistry ( IHC ) and electron microscopy analyses; ( 3 ) Quantitative real - time RT - PCR.Results Noticeably increased 24 - hour urine protein levels and glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness and noticeably decreased expression of nephrin and podocin in podocytes were found in M group compared to C group.Irbesartan intervention improved the above indicators ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Furthermore,the severity of proteinuria was found to be negatively correlated with nephrin expression and podocin expression( P ＜0.05).Conclusions Irbesartan is able to lower the urine protein level by inhibiting damage to podocytes in DN rats. Key words: Diabetic Nephropathies ;  Proteinuria ;  Angiotensin - Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ;