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 4

AcSDKP ameliorated kidney damage in db/db mice. At 20 weeks of age, the db/db mice were divided into the following 4 groups: imidapril, oral AcSDKP, oral AcSDKP + imidapril, and no treatment. AcSDKP (1 mg) was given 3 times per week by oral gavage. At 24 weeks of age, all mice were euthanized. ((a)–(e)) PAS staining for glomeruli and ((f)–(j)) MTS staining for tubulointerstitial fibrosis in the indicated group. Morphometric analyses for mesangial expansion (k) and relative area of fibrosis (l) are also shown. (m) 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. ((n)–(p)) 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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