Objective To observe the effects of
Bupishenhuoxue Therapy (BT) on the level of
advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and
on the mRNA expression of AGEs receptors (RAGE) in the renal cortex in the diabetic rat, and to investigate the mechanism of the effects of BT in preventing and treating diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods The rat diabetic model was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin in the left lower abdomen of the rat. The model rats were divided into the diabetic group, BT group and aminoguanidine group. And there was a normal control group as well in the experiment. The fluorescence spectrum method was used to detect the level of AGEs, and the RT-PCR technique was used to detect the expression of RAGE mRNA. Results It was found that the level of AGEs was significantly increased and the RAGE mRNA was over expressed, in the renal cortex of the rats in the diabetic group; and the level of AGEs was markedly lowered and the expression of RAGE mRNA was markedly downregulated in the renal cortex of the rats in the BT group after being treated with BT for 12 weeks, as compared with the results from the diabetic group ( P <0 01). Conclusion BT can prevent and treat DN by decreasing the accumulation of AGEs and downregulating the over expression of RAGE mRNA in the renal cortex.