To study the protective role of Shenshu (SS) in
adriamycin nephortic(AN) rats,40 male Wistar rats were randomly
divided into four groups: the normal control group(N group),the AN group(A group),the
prednisone group(P group) and the SS group(S group).The AN model was established with one injection of
adriamycin through caudal vein. AN rats were treated with prednisone and SS respectively. The mesangial matrix index and numerical density of mesangial cells were assayed by automatic image analyser, and the quantity of Collegen IV(Col Ⅳ),Fibronectin(FN) and Laminin(LN) in glomerular matrix were assayed by immunohistochemistry. The results display that the mesangial matrix index, the numerical density of mesangial cells and the quantity of Col Ⅳ, FN and LN in glomeruli of A group were higher than that of N group(P<0.05), but that of S group was lower obviously than that of A group(P<0.05), and that of P group had no considerable difference(P>0.05) with that of A group. These results exhibit that SS can inhibit both the proliferation of mesangial cells and the synthesis of mesangial matrix in glomeruli, therefore it has a protective role to AN rats, and this role is better than that of prednisone.