Tripterygium glycoside tablet attenuates renal function impairment in diabetic nephropathy mice by regulating triglyceride metabolism.

Tripterygium glycoside tablet (TGT) has been used clinically to alleviate diabetic nephropathy (DN) for decades. However, the mechanism of its anti-DN has not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to elucidate molecular mechanism of TGT in repairing renal function injury.

Mechanism research of Bu-Shen-Huo-Xue formula against renal fibrosis in rats with 5/6 nephrectomy via E-cadherin, α-SMA, and TGF-β1 .

Objective: Renal fibrosis generally results in renal failure during the end stage of chronic renal diseases. There are many cell factors including E-cadherin, α-SMA, and TGF-β1 influencing deposition of extracellular matrix and leading to renal fibrosis. As the most important and widely-used therapy for various diseases in China for thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provides a novel treatment for renal fibrosis.

Comparative pharmacokinetics of bergenin, a main active constituent of Saxifraga stolonifera Curt., in normal and hepatic injury rats after oral administration.

Bergenin, isolated from the herb of Saxifrage stolonifera Curt. (Hu-Er-Cao) has hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antitussive, and neuroprotective activities. The aim of the present study was to establish a simple, rapid, and sensitive RP-HPLC method for determination of bergenin in rat plasma and compare its oral pharmacokinetic behaviors in normal and CCl-induced hepatic injury rats.

[New evidence for the author of the medical ethics novel Doctor's Mirror].

Yijiejing (Doctor's Mirror), the first novel focused on medical ethics in the late Qing dynasty, aimed at meliorating medical ethical atmosphere by criticizing disorders among medical practitioners. Some contents of this novel were the same as those in Yijie Xianxingji (Revelation of Medical Community). By comparison between the two books and investigation on Doctor's Mirror's introduction, preface and advertisement in the newspaper at that time, we could find that the author of Doctor's Mirror was not the novelist LU Shi-e, but YU Wen-yao, the author of Yijie Xianxingji.

Salvianolic acid B reverses the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of HK-2 cells that is induced by transforming growth factor-β.

Salvianolic acid B (Sal B) is the most abundant bioactive molecule from Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, and has recently been used for treating renal fibrosis in traditional Chinese medicine. Here we investigated the ability reversal of Sal B to reverse the transdifferentiation of human kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells that was induced by transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1). The effects of Sal B on HK-2 cell morphology were observed by phase contrast microscopy, while alpha smooth muscle actin and E-cadherin were studied by immunocytochemistry and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively.