Effect of Danggui-Shaoyao-San-Containing Serum on the Renal Tubular Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Diabetic Nephropathy

Objectives: To investigate the effect of Danggui-Shaoyao-San (DSS)-containing serum on the renal tubular Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) of Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) in high glucose- induced HK-2 cells and its mechanism. Methods: 20 rats were randomly divided into four groups: blank control group, DSS low dose group (DSS-L), DSS middle dose group (DSS-M), and DSS high dose group (DSS-H). DSS was administrated to the corresponding group (7g/kg/d, 14g/kg/d and 21g/kg/d) for 7 consecutive days, and the same volume of saline was given to the blank control group by gavage. The rat drug-containing serum was successfully prepared. HK-2 cells were divided into five groups: blank control group, model group, DSS-L, DSS-M, DSS-H, according to the corresponding drug and dose of each treatment group. Protein and mRNA levels of Jagged1, Notch1, Hes5, Notch Intracellular Domain (NICD), E-cadherin, alpha- Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) and vimentin at 24h, 48h and 72h were detected by Western Blot and RT-qPCR. Results: The protein and mRNA levels of Jagged1, Notch1, Hes5, NICD, α-SMA and vimentin in the treatment groups were remarkably decreased compared with the model group (P<0.05), and the protein and mRNA levels of E-cadherin were notably increased (P<0.05) by Western Blot and RT-qPCR. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that DSS could prevent DN by ameliorating renal tubular EMT through inhibition of the Notch signaling pathway.