Expression of Notch pathway in diabetic nephropathy rats and intervention effect of Chinese materia medica for dispersing blood stasis and dredging collateral / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression of Notch pathway in the kidney of diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats and the intervention effect of Chinese materia medica (CMM) for dispersing blood stasis and dredging collateral. Methods Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats, in which ten rats were randomly selected as control group (n = 10), and the other rats were fed with high glucose and high fat diet combined with low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) ip injection as DN models. The model rats were randomly divided into model group, irbesartan group, and Huayu Tongluo Granles (HTG) group. The rats in each group were ig administered with corresponding drugs. At the end of the 16 weeks, the 24 h urinary protein was detected. The expression of Notch1, Jagged1, and Hey1 mRNA and protein in renal tissue was detected by real-time PCR, and immunohistochemical staining and western blotting assay, respectively. Results Compared with the control group, 24 h urinary protein, the mRNA and protein expression of Notch1, Jagged1, and Hey1 in model group was significantly increased (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, 24 h urinary protein and Notch1, Jagged1, Hey1 mRNA, and protein expression of HTG group and irbesartan group was significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Conclusion CMM for dispersing blood stasis and dredging collateral can reduce 24 h urinary protein in DN rats and inhibit the high expression of Notch1, Jagged1, and Hey1 in the kidney tissue of DN rats, which may be one of the main ways to reduce proteinuria excretion.