Huoxue Jiedu Huayu recipe(活血解毒化瘀方)alleviates contralateral renal fibrosis in unilateral ureteral obstruction rats by inhibiting the transformation of macrophages to myofibroblast

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the action and underlying mechanisms of Huoxue Jiedu Huayu recipe(活血解毒化瘀方,HJHR)against unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO)-induced injury in the contralateral kidney.METHODS:Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing(200±10)g were used in this study and randomly assigned to 4 groups:a sham group,a UUO group,a UUO+eplerenone(EPL)group,and a UUO+HJHR group.The contralateral kidneys were harvested for further study 180 d after surgery.Histological analysis,immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to study the fibrosis of the contralateral kidneys obtained from UUO rats.Contralateral kidney damagerelated pathway proteins were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis.RESULTS:HJHR significantly inhibited fibrosis of the contralateral kidney in UUO rats by attenuating the UUOinduced macrophage-to-myofibroblast transition(MMT)in the contralateral kidney.Moreover,HJHR attenuated fibrosis in the contralateral kidney of UUO rats by preventing MMT through the aldosterone/mineralocorticoid receptor/serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 pathway.CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that HJHR may be a potential treatment for renal interstitial fibrosis of obstructive nephropathy.