Reno-protective effect and mechanism study of Huang Lian Jie Du Decoction on lupus nephritis MRL/lpr mice.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Huang Lian Jie Du Decoction (HLJDD), a very famous traditional Chinese medicinal prescription, has been used for heat dissipation and detoxification in China. This study was aimed to evaluate the reno-protective effects of HLJDD against lupus nephritis (LN) in vivo in MRL/lpr mice.

METHODS:

Animals were administered orally every day for eight consecutive weeks except the mice of normal group and model group. Organ indexes, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and the anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibody were tested, respectively. Creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urine protein were measured for renal function evaluation. The expression of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT 3) in kidney tissue was observed by western blot (WB) and immunohistochemical (IHC) method. Meanwhile, histopathological changes in the renal were studied by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining.

RESULTS:

The mice of HLJDD-treated group exhibited a significant reduced mortality (p < 0.05), serum anti-dsDNA level (p < 0.05) and renal immune complex deposition (p < 0.05), compared with the untreated MRL/lpr mice. In addition, HLJDD treatment remarkably reduced the levels of BUN, Cr, proteinuria (p < 0.01) and the levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ (p < 0.01). Moreover, HLJDD significantly suppressed the phosphorylations of STAT 3 (p < 0.05) and the renal pathological changes.

CONCLUSIONS:

The study implied that HLJDD may be a potential agent for the therapy of LN, and the down-regulated p-STAT 3 expression suggesting that it may be one of the LN therapy targets for HLJDD.

• Authors: Xiaoli Nie, Rong Deng, Lei Xiang, Pingping Jiang, Qi Xue
• Journal: BMC complementary and alternative medicine (BMC Complement Altern Med) Vol. 16 Issue 1 Pg. 448 (Nov 09 2016) ISSN: 1472-6882 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 27825337 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Drugs, Chinese Herbal
• Interleukin-6
• Interleukin-10
• Interferon-gamma

Topics

• Animals
• Disease Models, Animal
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal (administration & dosage)
• Female
• Humans
• Interferon-gamma
• Interleukin-10 (genetics, immunology)
• Interleukin-6 (genetics, immunology)
• Kidney
• Lupus Nephritis (drug therapy, genetics, immunology)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred MRL lpr
• Signal Transduction