Astragalus mongholicus ameliorates renal fibrosis by modulating HGF and TGF-β in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction  

作　　者：Chuan ZUO Xi-sheng XIE Hong-yu QIU Yao DENG Da ZHU Jun-ming FAN 

机构地区：[1]Department of Nephrology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China

出　　处：《Journal of Zhejiang University-Science B(Biomedicine & Biotechnology)》2009年第5期380-390,共11页浙江大学学报（英文版）B辑（生物医学与生物技术）

基　　金：(No.30170437) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China

摘　　要：Astragalus mongholicus （AM） derived from the dry root ofAstragalus membranaceus Bge. var. mongolicus （Bge.） Hsiao is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine. The present study investigated the potential role of AM on renal fibrosis on a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction （UUO）. We divided 48 Sprague-Dawley rats randomly into 4 groups： sham-operated group （Sham）, untreated UUO group, AM-treated （10 g/（kg.d）） UUO group, and losartan-treated （20 mg/（kg.d）） UUO group as positive control. Haematoxylin ＆ eosin （HE） and Masson staining were used to study the dynamic histological changes of the kidneys 7 and 14 d after operation. The expressions of fibronectin （FN）, type I collagen （coil）, hepatocyte growth factor （HGF）, transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β1）, and eL-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA） were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR）, immunohistochemistry staining, and Western blot. Results show that, similar to losartan, AM alleviated the renal damage and decreased the deposition of FN and coil from UUO by reducing the expressions of TGF-β1 and α-SMA （P〈0.05）, whereas HGF increased greatly with AM treatment （P〈0.05）. Our findings reveal that AM could retard the progression of renal fibrosis. The renoprotective effect of AM might be related to inhibition ofmyofibroblast activation, inducing of HGF and reducing of TGF-β1 expression.Astragalus mongholicus(AM) derived from the dry root of Astragalus membranaceus Bge.var.mongolicus(Bge.) Hsiao is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine.The present study investigated the potential role of AM on renal fibrosis on a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO).We divided 48 Sprague-Dawley rats randomly into 4 groups:sham-operated group(Sham),untreated UUO group,AM-treated(10 g/(kg·d)) UUO group,and losartan-treated(20 mg/(kg·d)) UUO group as positive control.Haematoxylin & eosin(HE) and Masson staining were used to study the dynamic histological changes of the kidneys 7 and 14 d after operation.The expressions of fibronectin(FN),type I collagen(colI),hepatocyte growth factor(HGF),transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1),and α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR),immunohistochemistry staining,and Western blot.Results show that,similar to losartan,AM alleviated the renal damage and decreased the deposition of FN and colI from UUO by reducing the expressions of TGF-β1 and α-SMA(P<0.05),whereas HGF increased greatly with AM treatment(P<0.05).Our findings reveal that AM could retard the progression of renal fibrosis.The renoprotective effect of AM might be related to inhibition of myofibroblast activation,inducing of HGF and reducing of TGF-β1 expression.

关 键 词：Astragalus mongholicus （AM） MYOFIBROBLAST Transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β1） Renal interstitial fibrosis Hepatocyte growth factor （HGF） 

分 类 号：Q516[生物学—生物化学] S858.966[农业科学—临床兽医学]