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eCAM Advance Access published online on August 25, 2009
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nep095
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© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Ayurvedic medicine Salacia oblonga attenuates diabetic renal fibrosis in rats: suppression of angiotensin II/AT1 signaling

Lan He1, Yanfei Qi2, Xianglu Rong3, Jianmin Jiang1, Qinglin Yang4, Johji Yamahara5, Michael Murray2 and Yuhao Li2

1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China, 2Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia, 3Department of Pharmacology, Guangzhou University of Chinese medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China, 4Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama, Birminham, 35294-3360, USA and 5Pharmafood Institute, Kyoto, 602-8136, Japan

In human diabetic nephropathy, the extent of tubulointerstitial fibrosis is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease; fibrosis is closely correlated with renal dysfunction. Although a wide array of medicinal plants play a role in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, there are few reports of the application of herbal medicines in amelioration of renal fibrosis, or the underlying mechanisms by which such benefits are mediated. The efficacy of the Ayurvedic antidiabetic medicine Salacia oblonga (SO) root on rat renal fibrosis was investigated. An aqueous extract from SO (100 mg/kg, p.o., 6 weeks) diminished renal glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, as revealed by van Giesen-staining. SO also reduced renal salt-soluble, acid-soluble and salt-insoluble collagen contents. These changes were accompanied by normalization of hypoalbuminemia and BUN. Gene profiling revealed that the increase in transcripts encoding the glomerulosclerotic mediators collagen I, collagen IV, fibronectin, angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 observed in ZDF rat kidney was suppressed by SO. In rat-derived mesangial cells, similar to the effect of the AT1 antagonist telmisartan, SO and its major component mangiferin suppressed the stimulatory effect of angiotensin II on proliferation and increased mRNA expression and/or activities of collagen I, collagen IV, fibronectin, AT1, TGF-β1 and PAI-1. Considered together the present findings demonstrate that SO attenuates diabetic renal fibrosis, at least in part by suppressing anigiotensin II/AT1 signaling. Further, it now emerges that mangiferin is an effective antifibrogenic agent.

Keywords: angiotensin II – diabetes – fibrosis – kidney – Salacia

For reprints and all correspondence: Yuhao Li, Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia. Tel: +61 2 9351 8585; Fax: +61 2 9351 8638; E-mail: yuhao{at}pharm.usyd.edu.au

Received February 4, 2009; accepted June 26, 2009


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