Inhibitory effects of reduced glutathione sodium on renal nuclear factor-kappaB expression in rats with diabetes of different stages / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relation between diabetic nephropathy and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) expression, and observe the effect of reduced glutathione sodium (GSH) on NF-kappaB activation and in prevention of diabetic nephropathy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-/+25 g were randomized into control group (10 rats) and diabetic group (60 rats, subgrouped into 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and their corresponding intervention subgroups, each consisting of 10 rats). The rats in the 6 diabetic groups were subjected to intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin, and those in the control group received injection with 0.1 mmol/L citric acid buffer solution of the same volume. The diabetic models were affirmed upon a fasting blood glucose >or=16.5 mmol/L 3 days after the injection. The intervention groups were injected intraperitoneally with GSH (10 mg/100 g) once daily. Fasting blood glucose and body weight were measured every week. The rats were executed at the end of 1, 3, and 6 months respectively and the nucleoproteins were extracted from the renal specimen. NF-kappaB was measured using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) after labeling with isotope probe, and the gray scale of the electrophoretic bands was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>EMSA optical density analysis of electrophoretic bands showed that NF-kappaB expression increased in each diabetic groups in comparison with the control group (P<0.05), and NF-kappaB level rose proportionally with the disease course of 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. The activity of NF-kappaB decreased in the intervention groups as compared with the corresponding untreated groups (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The activation of NF-kappaB plays a role in the onset and development of diabetes. NF-kappaB inhibition and containment of inflammation might be one of the mechanisms of GSH treatment for diabetes.</p>