Effect of Fushengong Prescription on p38 MAPK Signal Pathway of Rats with Chronic Renal Failure / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the effects of Fushengong prescription on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase（p38 MAPK） signal pathway of rats with chronic renal failure（CRF），and to explore its mechanism of reducing inflammatory reaction of renal tissues and delaying the progress of renal interstitial fibrosis. Method:The 55 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group，model group， and low，medium and high dose groups of Fushengong prescription，with 11 rats in each group.The normal group was routinely reared， and the other four groups of rats were fed a diet containing 0.5% adenine to produce a model of CRF， which was continuously molded for 21 days.After successful modeling，all rats switched to conventional feed.Normal group and model group were given normal saline 20 mL·kg-1，and each group of Fushengong prescription was given 4，8，16 g·kg-1 of water prescription once a day for 30 days.After the experiment，Masson staining was used to observe the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis.The expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1（MCP-1） in renal tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. The expression of phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase（p-p38 MAPK） and transformed growth factor-β1（TGF-β1） in renal tissues were detected by Western blot. Result:Compared with normal group，the renal interstitial collagen deposition increased significantly，the average optical density value of MCP-1 and the expression levels of p-p38 MAPK and TGF-β1 also increased significantly in model group （P<0.05）. Compared with model group，the renal interstitial collagen deposition reduced significantly，the average optical density value of MCP-1 and the protein expression levels of p-p38 MAPK and TGF-β1 also decreased significantly in each dose group of Fushengong prescription（P<0.05）. Conclusion:Fushengong prescription can effectively inhibit the expression of related inflammatory factors in the renal tissue of CRF rats，so as to reduce the inflammatory response in the renal tissue and delay the progress of renal interstitial fibrosis，the mechanism of which may be related to inhibit the activation of p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway.