Relationship between urinary nephrin and urinary albumin changes in diabetic rats and effects of yiqiyangyinhuayutongluo recipe.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the dynamic changes of urinary nephrin, and the relationship between it and urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) in a diabetic rat model, as well the effects of yiqiyangyinhuayutongluo recipe.
METHODS: Diabetic model was induced by high fat diet combined with low-dose Streptozotocin (STZ) in rats. Normal group (NG), model group (MG), and yiqiyangyinhuayutongluo recipe treated group (YHTG) were set. Gastrointestinal Yiqiyangyi-nhuayutongluo recipe was administered once daily for 32 w. At the end of the 2nd w (2 w), 8 w, 16 w, and 32 w, fasting blood glucose (FBG), UAER and 24h urinary nephrin (U-nephrin) were detected.
RESULTS: Compared with NG, FBG in MG increased notably (P < 0.05). Compared with MG, FBG of YHTG (P < 0.05) since 16 w. U-nephrin and UAER in MG increased significantly from 2 w, peaked at 16 w, lessened in different degree at 32 w, but were still higher than NG. The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between U-nephrin and UAER at different time, the correlation coefficient as r > 0.9, and P < 0.05. Compared with MG, U-nephrin and UAER in YHTG decreased markedly (P < 0.05) except for U-nephrin at 8 w.
CONCLUSIONS: U-nephrin and UAER in diabetic rat model have a positive linear correlation. Yiqiyangyinhuayutongluo recipe can reduce UAER markedly, and preventing the lose of nephrin in urine maybe one of the mechanisms.