The aims of this study were
to assess the role of Nrf2 in rosuvastatin-mediated antioxidant effects in endothelial cells and to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms of renoprotective effect of rosuvastatin treatment. Methods: Wild type (WT) and Akita diabetic mice (AKITA) were treated with RSV for 4 weeks. Urinary albumin selleck inhibitor excretion and renal histology were examined. Nrf2-antioxidant response element (ARE) activity was measured in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) with luciferase assay after transfection of reporter plasmids containing AREs. The expression of Nrf2-regulated genes was also examined. Results: Increased urinary albumin excretion in AKITA mice was significantly reduced by RSV treatment. The amount of lectin-stained glomerular endothelial surface layer, important for permselectivity in the vascular wall, was significantly reduced in AKITA mice and preserved with RSV treatment. RSV significantly increased the transcriptional activity of the AREs and selleckchem subsequent expression of Nrf2-regulated genes in HUVEC. Additional experiments with cycloheximide and actinomycin D indicated that RSV extended the half-life of Nrf2 protein. Furthermore, RSV increased p21cip1 expression and thereby inhibited degradation of Nrf2 through direct binding of Nrf2 with p21cip1. Conclusion: These data indicate that rosuvastatin has anti-oxidative effects through activation of Nrf2, thereby restoring glomerular
endothelial function and preventing development of albuminuria in diabetes. FAN QIULING, PU SHI, LIU NAN, LV XIAOMENG, JIANG YI, WANG LINING Department of Nephrology, The First Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, China Introduction: To explore the pathogenesis and the biomarkers for early detection of diabetic nephropathy (DN), the circulating microRNA expression profile of DN patients was analyzed by AB Taqman human miRNA array. Methods: We
obtained serum samples from 5 diabetic nephropathy patients proven by renal biopsy as nodular diabetic glomerulosclerosis, 5 diabetic patients without microalbuminuria (DM) and 5 healthy Sitaxentan controls (N). Serum miRNAs were analyzed with the TaqMan Low Density Array and then validated with a quantitative reverse-transcription PCR assay with 30 individual samples. Results: The urinary microalbumin/creatinine ratio and serum creatinine in diabetic nephropathy patients were higher than that of diabetic patients and healthy control (p < 0.05). 20 miRNAs were upregulated and 22 miRNAs were downregulated in serum of diabetic patients compared with that of healthy controls. 42 miRNAs were upregulated and 19 miRNAs were downregulated in serum of diabetic nephropathy patients compared with that of diabetic patients. Among them, along with the progression of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy, miR-1179 was gradually increased (2.03 times in DM/N and 2.14 times in DN/DM), miR-148b, miR-150 were gradually reduced (2.04 times in DM/N, 2.