ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of Shenfukang Ⅱ on kidney function and TGF-β1/Smads signal pathway with 5/6 nephrectomy model in rats. Methods Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into the sham operation group, model group and Shenfukang group according to a random number table. We used 5/6 nephrectomy to prepare animal models. The rats were given Shenfukang Ⅱ particles 450 mg/(kg?d) gavage, the others group were given equal volume of saline gavage, once a day, continuous 21 days. The rats were given gavage at the 9 th week after operation. The changes of renal function index BUN, SCR and UA of rats in each group were detected 21 days after administration. The expression of TGF-β1, TGFβR1, Smad7, pSmad2, pSmad3 in renal tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The Smad7, pSmad2 and pSmad3 detected the expression of in renal tissues by Western Blot. Results Compared with the model group, the content of BUN (15.03 ± 2.19 mmol/L vs. 24.30 ± 2.82 mmol/L), SCR (74.22 ± 7.36 μmol/L vs. 93.61 ± 14.73 μmol/L) in Shenfukang group significantly decreased (P<0.05). The expression of TGF-β1, TGFβR1, pSmad2 and pSmad3 significantly decreased in kidney tissue, while the expression of Smad7 significantly increased in kidney tissue. The expression of p-smad2 (0.47 ± 0.03 vs. 0.64 ± 0.04) and p-smad3 (0.43 ± 0.04 vs. 0.55 ± 0.02) significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the expression of Smad7 (0.54 ± 0.03 vs. 0.39 ± 0.02) significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusions Shenfukang Ⅱ have improved on kidney function with 5/6 nephrectomy model rats. The study revealed that Shenfukang II may play an anti-fibrotic effect on regulating TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway with 5/6 nephrectomies model.