Predicting and Validating the Regulation of Podocyte Injury and Treatment of Diabetic Kidney Disease by Yinhuo Tang.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a chronic kidney disease characterized by massive proteinuria and decreased glomerular filtration rate. The main pathological feature of DKD is renal microangiopathy, and ~40% of diabetic patients will develop DKD. The podocyte-associated proteins CD2AP and WT-1 play a crucial role in maintaining the normal function of podocytes and the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier. When podocyte structure or function is disrupted-due to inflammation, oxidative stress, or other pathological insults-the slit diaphragm and actin cytoskeleton are damaged, leading to increased permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier and resulting in proteinuria. Yinhuo Tang (YHT) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription that has the function of reducing proteinuria and delaying the deterioration of renal function; however, the mechanism of YHT in treating DKD is not clear. In this paper, based on network pharmacology and animal experiments, we examined the blood glucose, liver function, renal function, blood lipids, renal pathology, expression levels of podocyte marker proteins CD2AP and WT-1, as well as the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway in db/db mice after the administration of YHT for 8 weeks. Our results show that YHT reduces the expression levels of inflammatory factors by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway, thus reducing podocyte damage to play a role in delaying the progression of DKD.