The protective function of oxymatrine on renal interstitial fibrosis in rats

Objective: To investigate the protective function of oxymatrine on the renal intestitial fibrosis in rats. Methods: Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: sham group, model group, Lotensin group, large-dose oxymatrine group, and small-dose oxymatrine group. The models were established by unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO) of the left side. On the 14^th day after operation, the obstructed kidney was taken out. Then, HE, Massion, and immunohistochemistry staining of transforming growth factor-β₁ (TG F-β₁), or smooth muscle acting (α-SMA) and collagen III were conducted. After that, semiquantitative analysis was performed. Results: After oxymatrine, treatment, the expressions of α-SMA, TGF-β₁ and Col III of the obstructed kidney in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the model group (P<0.01); the expressions in the large-dose oxymatrine group were lower than those in the lotensin group; while there were no significant difference between the large-dose and small-dose oxymatrine groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Oxymatrine may reduce the expression of cytokines such as TGF- β₁, then the activation of cell producing ECM and then the sendimentation of ECM, thus preventing renal interstitial fibrosis.