Albiflorin ameliorates mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis by PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway.

Background:  The most common type of glomerulonephritis in China is mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) featured with mesangial cell overproliferation and inflammation, as well as fibrosis. Albiflorin (AF) is an effective composition extracted from Paeonia Alba Radix and has been administrated for various diseases. Nevertheless, there is no research reporting the effect of AF on MPGN. Purpose:  Our work aims to probe into the role and possible mechanism of AF on MPGN. Research Design:  We investigated the effects of AF on mesangial cell overproliferation, inflammation, and fibrosis  in vitro  and  in vivo  and identified the related signaling pathways. Study Sample: human mesangial cells (HMCs) and male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Data Analysis:  SPSS 18.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: AF attenuated the proliferation and inflammation both  in vitro  and  in vivo . In detail, AF decreased the ki67 expression in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-treated HMCs and MPGN rats, and the mRNA expression or contents of inflammatory cytokines were reduced after AF treatment. The fibrosis of LPS-treated HMCs and MPGN rats was also reduced by AF. Moreover, AF effectively restrained 24 h urinary protein, improved kidney function, and mitigated dyslipidemia and pathological injury of MPGN rats. Additionally, we found that the protective effects of AF were accompanied by the blocking of PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway, and the inhibitory effects of AF on MPGN were reversed by insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), the PI3K agonist. Conclusions:  AF alleviates MPGN via restraining mesangial cell overproliferation, inflammation, and fibrosis via PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling.