Effects of Panax Notoginoside on the Expression of TGF-β1 and Smad-7 in Renal Tissues of Diabetic Rats

In order to explore the effects of Panax notoginoside （PNS） on the expression of transforming growth factor β1 （TGF-β1） and Smad-7 in renal tissues of diabetes, a rat model of diabetic nephropathy was set up by intravenous injection of streptozotocin （STZ）. Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group, diabetic control group, group treated by PNS at low-dosage （PL）, group treated by PNS at high-dosage （PH） and group treated by catopril （C）, respectively. Fasting blood glucose （FBG）, renal index, endogenous creatinine clearance rate （CCr） and urinary albumin （UAlb） in 24 h were examined after 6 weeks. Meanwhile, the expressions of TGF-β1 and Smad7 in renal tissues were immunohistochemically dectected. At the end of the sixth week, FBG, renal index, Ccr, UAlb were all elevated significantly in control group （P0.01）. The expression of TGF-β1 protein was increased while Smad7 protein decreased in renal tissue （P0.01）. However, the treatment with PNS reversed the aforementioned changes in renal tissues of diabetic rats. These results indicate that PNS possess a protective effect on the kidney of diabetic rats and it might protect kidney by inhibiting the expression of TGF-β1 protein and enhancing the expression of Smad7 protein.

Effects of Panax Notoginoside on the Nephropathy in Rats with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective：To explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of Panax notoginoside（PNS） on the nephropathy in rats with type 1 diabetes.Methods：A murine model of diabetic nephropathy was set up by an intravenous injection of streptozotocin（STZ）.Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups：the control group, the diabetic group（DM）,the group treated with low-dosage PNS（PNS-L）,the group treated with high-dosage PNS（PNS-H） and the group treated with catopril.Rats in the PNS-L and PNS-H groups were given different dosages of PNS while rats in the catopril group were given catopril through gastrogavage every day for the next four consecutive weeks.Serum creatinine（Cr） levels,endogenous creatinine clearance rate（CCr）,and 24-h urinary microalbumin（UAlb） were examined and calculated.Meanwhile,immunohistochemistry was applied to determine the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） and bone morphogenetic protein-7 （BMP-7） in the kidney tissue.Results：The levels of Cr,Ccr,and UAlb were all elevated significantly in the DM group（P0.01）.The expression of VEGF protein was increased but BMP-7 protein was decreased in the kidney tissue（P0.01）.However,the above items decreased in the PNS-L,PNS-H and catopril groups compared with the DM group（P0.05,P0.01）.In the PNS-L,PNS-H and catopril groups,the expression of VEGF protein was decreased but BMP-7 protein was increased in the kidney tissue（P0.05,P0.01）.Conclusion：PNS shows protective effects on the kidney in type 1 diabetic rats at the early stage.The protective mechanism might be closely related to its role of inhibiting the expression of VEGF protein and enhancing the expression of BMP-7 protein in the kidney.