Regulation of Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway in Renal Interstitial Fibrosis by Traditional Chinese Medicine：A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Chronic kidney disease （CKD） has become a public health problem worldwide with renal interstitial fibrosis （RIF） serving as the important pathological feature and pathological outcome of various CKD. Therefore， anti-fibrosis therapy has important practical significance for delaying the progression of CKD and improving the prognosis of CKD patients. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is a conserved signaling pathway through evolution， which plays a vital role in organ formation， tissue homeostasis， and disease progression during embryonic development. A growing body of research has confirmed that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is one of the key signaling pathways in a variety of kidney diseases and its activation is closely related to RIF. RIF is aggravated by the specific regulation of the expression of downstream target genes， such as fibroblasts， zinc finger transcription factor 1 （Snail1）， M2 macrophages， matrix metalloproteinase-7 （MMP-7）， plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 （PAI-1）， and renin-angiotensin system（RAS）， and relieved by targeting the signaling pathways， such as Klotho， Dickkopf-related protein 1 （DKK1）， secreted frizzled-related protein 1 （Sfrp1）， and indocyanine green-001. In addition，the pathological view of RIF in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） coincides with that in western medicine. Based on the etiology and pathogenesis of TCM in the combination of deficiency and excess， TCM regulates fibrosis-promoting mediators by tonifying deficiency， eliminating turbidity， removing the toxin， resolving stasis， and treating both symptoms and root causes in a multi-target， multi-layer， and multi-pathway manner to inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and play an important role in renal protection. Therefore， this study reviewed the regulatory mechanism of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in RIF and the protective effect of targeting this signaling pathway on renal function and discussed the potential role of TCM in delaying the progression of RIF， which is expected to provide new targets and strategies for the prevention and treatment of RIF.