ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To study the mechanisms of anti-diabetic nephropathy of rhein on cultured human mesangial cells (HMCs).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>To mimic the hyperglycemic (HG) environment of diabetic nephropathy, 30 mmol x L(-1) glucose were added to 10% FBS RPMI 1640. The HMCs were treated with rhein for 8, 24, 48 or 72 h, at these time, the bioactivity, total activity of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta1), activity of p38MAPK (p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases, by using immunoprecipitate and Western blot), MMP-2 (matrix metalloproteinase-2), and MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9, by using gelatinase zymography) and the proliferation of HMCs in high glucose media were measured. Meanwhile the levels of secretion of FN in cultured HMCs were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The results showed that rhein markedly inhibit the proliferation of HMCs, significantly reduce the bioactivity of TGFbeta1 and FN secretion in HMCs, and decrease the increased activity of p38MAPK, but showed no action on the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Rhein reduced the secretion of FN and inhibited the proliferation of HMCs may through inhibiting the bioactivities of TGFbeta1 and p38MAPK.</p>