[Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside suppresses inflammatory cytokine expression in rats with diabetic nephropathy].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside (TWP) on the expressions of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and other inflammatory factors in diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats. METHODS: The diabetic model was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The rats were randomly divided into three groups normal control group, diabetic model group and TWP (1.8 g/kg.d) treatment group. Kidney index, blood glucose (BG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and other biochemical criterions were measured after eight-week treatment. The concentration of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in serum and IL-6, TNF-α, CCL5 in kidney homogenate were detected by ELISA. The pathological changes of kidney were observed by HE staining and the expression of NF-κB in kidney was tested by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the model group, TWP improved evidently the general situation of rats. The levels of BG, HbA1c, kidney index, Scr and BUN were reduced significantly (P<0.01) and the body mass was elevated significantly (P<0.01). Additionally, the content of hs-CRP in serum, the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and CCL5 in kidney homogenate and the expression of NF-κB in kidney decreased obviously in TWP group compared with the model group(P<0.01). The pathological changes of kidney were also relieved by TWP treatment. CONCLUSION: TWP treatment could reduce the expressions of inflammation cytokines in serum and kidney and relieve the nephropathy in diabetic rats.