%0 Journal Article
%T Tanshinone IIA Promoted Autophagy and Inhibited Inflammation to Alleviate Podocyte Injury in Diabetic Nephropathy.
%A Li Y
%A Wu T
%A Li H
%A Liu M
%A Xu H
%J Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes
%V 17
%N 0
%D 2024
%M 39072344
%F 3.249
%R 10.2147/DMSO.S464015
%X <B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Tanshinone IIA (Tan-IIA) is widely used in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), but its protective effect on podocytes in DN has not been well studied. In this study, the effects of Tan-IIA on autophagy and inflammation of glomerular podocytes in DN were observed in vivo and in vitro, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. Irbesartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker, is a representative medication for the clinical treatment of DN. So irbesartan was chosen as a positive control drug.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Eight-week-old male db/db mice were randomly divided into a DN group, an irbesartan group, and three groups receiving different doses of Tan-IIA. The control group consisted of the db/m littermate mice. Blood, urine, and kidney samples were taken from the mice after 12 weeks of continuous administration. Renal protection of Tan-IIA was evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, haematoxylin and eosin staining, transmission electron microscopy, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. In vitro, the protective effect of Tan-IIA on podocytes was explored using MPC5 cells cultured with high glucose.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Tan-IIA significantly improved renal pathological injury and relieved the renal dysfunction in DN. Compared with the DN group, Tan-IIA could up-regulate the expression of Synaptopodin, Podocin, LC3II/I and Beclin-1 (p < 0.05), and down-regulate the expression of p62, F4/80, NF-κB p65, IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 (p < 0.05) both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that Tan-IIA treatment alleviated podocyte injury by promoting autophagy and inhibiting inflammation during DN. The levels of p-PI3K/PI3K, p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR in Tan-IIA group were lower than those in DN group (p < 0.05), indicating that Tan-IIA inhibited the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway in podocytes, which was a key pathway in regulating both autophagy and inflammation.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Tan-IIA prevented podocyte injury in DN by fostering autophagy and inhibiting inflammation, at least in part via inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway.