Oral Administration of N-Acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline Ameliorates Kidney Disease in Both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetic Mice via a Therapeutic Regimen

Figure 3

AcSDKP ameliorated glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in STZ-induced diabetes in CD-1 mice. 8-week-old male CD-1 mice were given a single peritoneal injection of STZ. 16 weeks after the induction of diabetes in the CD-1 mice, some diabetic mice were initiated with imidapril in the drinking water. 20 weeks after the induction of diabetes, the imidapril-treated diabetic mice were divided into groups receiving oral gavage of either vehicle or AcSDKP (1 mg) 3 times per week. At 24 weeks after the induction of diabetes, all mice were euthanized. ((a)–(d)) PAS staining for glomeruli and ((e)–(h)) MTS staining for tubulointerstitial fibrosis in the indicated group. Morphometric analyses for mesangial expansion (i) relative area of fibrosis (j) are also shown. (k) Western blot analysis data of indicated proteins. Three mice were analyzed in each group and representative pictures were shown in the figure. Imidapril treatment is labeled as imidapril, and oral AcSDKP treatment is labeled as AcSDKP. ((l)–(n)) Quantitative analysis of indicated proteins to actin expression ratio. Densitometric analysis was performed by ImageJ software. . The data are expressed as the mean SEM in the figure. FN: fibronectin.

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