Effect of Cili freeze-dried powder on renal fibrosis model in rats and intervention mechanism

Objective To observe the effects of Cili freeze-dried powder on renal fibrosis and inflammatory factors in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model rats, and explore the intervention mechanism of Cili freeze-dried powder delaying the process of renal fibrosis.Methods The SD male rats were divided into four groups:sham operated group, model group, losartan potassium group, Cili freeze-dried powder group. The former two groups were given normal distilled water, and losartan potassium group and Cili freeze-dried powder group were treated with losartan potassium (1 mg/100 g) and Cili freeze-dried powder (300 mg/100 g) respectively. Model rats were sacrificed at 14th day after first administration. The specimens were collected, and the pathological changes of renal tissue were observed. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen type Ⅲ (Col-Ⅲ), and Western blot was used to detect protein expression level of TGF-β1, NF-κB p65 and TLR2.Results Under light microscope, the renal tissue structure in the sham operated group was basically normal and there was no infiltration of inflammatory cells in the stroma, without Collagennous fiber or a little Collagennous fiber changes. The renal tissue structure in the model group was disordered, and a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration and obvious interstitial collagen deposits were seen in the interstitium of the kidney. As compared with model group, pathological changes were significantly alleviated in losartan potassium group and Cili freeze-dried powder group, and only a small amount of expression of α-SMA, Col-Ⅲ, TGF-β1, NF-κB p65 and TLR2 was detected in renal tissue in sham operated group. In the model group, the expression of these proteins increased significantly. As compared with the model group, α-SMA, Col-Ⅲ, TGF-β1, NF-κB p65 and TLR2 proteins were significantly down-regulated in the losartan potassium group and the Cili freeze-dried powder group (P<0.01). As compared with the Losartan potassium group, the expression of TLR2 and NF-κB p65 proteins was significantly reduced in the Cili freeze-dried powder group (P<0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference in the expression of α-SMA, Col-Ⅲ and TGF-β1 (P>0.05).Conclusions The Cili freeze-dried powder on immune renal tissue in the rat UUO model can modulate the local microenvironment, and can improve the renal fibrosis.