Vitamin D receptor and its protective role in diabetic nephropathy / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To review the advances of studies on vitamin D receptor and its role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.</p><p><b>DATA SOURCES</b>A comprehensive search of the PubMed literatures without restriction on the publication date was carried out using keywords such as vitamin D receptor and diabetic nephropathy.</p><p><b>STUDY SELECTION</b>Articles related to vitamin D receptor and diabetic nephropathy were selected and carefully analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ligands as well as construction and tissue distribution of vitamin D receptor were summarized. Pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy was analyzed. The mechanisms underlying the renoprotective role of vitamin D receptor including inhibition of renin-angiotensin system, anti-inflammation, anti-fibrosis and the reduction of proteinuria were reviewed. Mounting evidences from animal and clinical studies have suggested that vitamin D therapy has beneficial effects on the renal systems and the underlying renoprotective mechanisms of the vitamin D receptor-mediated signaling pathways is a hot research topic.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our study suggests that vitamin D receptor has a great potential for preventing the progression of diabetic nephropathy via multiple mechanisms.</p>