Effects of astragalus injection combined with puerarin injection on process of endoplasmic reticulum stress through PERK pathway in dabe-tic nephropathy mice

AIM: To investigate the effects of astragalus injection combined with puerarin injection on endoplasmic reticulum stress through PERK pathway in diabetic nephropathy mice. METHODS: Male KKA^y mice were randomly divided into model group (injected with normal saline) and treatment group (injected with astragalus and puerarin). The male C57BL/6J mice served as normal group. The mice were sacrificed 4 weeks after treatments for observing morphological changes under electron microscope. The renal tissues were collected to determine the expression of protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) and glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) at mRNA and protein levels by real-time PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Under electron microscope, the renal tubular epithelial cells in model group and treatment group showed the swelling of the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. The results of real-time PCR and Western blot showed that the expression of PERK, eIF2α and GRP78 at mRNA and protein levels in model group was higher than that in normal group (P<0.05), while that in treatment group was lower than that in model group. CONCLUSION: Astragalus injection combined with puerarin injection reduces the mRNA and protein expression of PERK, eIF2α and GRP78, thus inhibiting the endoplasmic reticulum stress in type 2 diabetic mice to protect the kidney function.