ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effect of raw and salt-processed of psoralen on the function of liver and kidney and the expression of aquaporins 5 (AQP5), AQP4, and AQP2 in the kidney-yang deficiency model rats. Methods Used hydrocortisone made deficiency of kidney-YANG model rats, total protein (TP), albumin (Alb) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum creatinine (Scr), and urea nitrogen (BUN) content in serum of rats were determined by chemical reagent method. The expression of AQP5, AQP4, and AQP2 were detected by qRT-PCR. Results The levels of ALT and AST in the raw and salt-processed of psoralen groups increased significantly, and Alb decreased significantly compared with model group (P andlt; 0.05); The levels of ALT and AST in the salt-processed of psoralen group were lower than that in the raw psoralen group; the levels of BUN and Scr in the treated group were significantly higher than that in the model group (P andlt; 0.05). The expression of mRNA for AQP2 and AQP4 of model group was decreased significantly (P andlt; 0.05) compared with control group, and expression of AQP5 mRNA increased significantly (P andlt; 0.05). The expression of AQP4 mRNA in raw psoralen group was significantly higher than that in model group (P andlt; 0.05), and AQP5 mRNA was significantly lower than that in model group (P andlt; 0.05). Moreover, the expression of AQP2 and AQP5 mRNA of salt-processed of psoralen group was significantly higher than that of the raw psoralen group (P andlt; 0.05), and AQP4 mRNA expression was significantly lower than that of salt-processed of psoralen group (P andlt; 0.05). Conclusion Salt-processed of psoralen can reduce the side effects of drugs on liver and kidney function in kidney-yang deficiency model rats, it can also alleviate the dryness of raw psoralen. The relief of dryness by salt-processed of psoralen may be related to the regulation of the gene expression of aquaporins in vivo.