Objective: To explore the mechanism of Acanthopanax senticosus (AS) on diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients by observing its effect on urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and renal endothelin (ET) metabolism.
Methods: Forty-seven patients of diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2 with persistent microalbuminuria and normotension were randomly divided into two groups, the conventional treatment group (control group) and the AS treatment group. The treatment course was 8 weeks. The changes of UAE, plasma and urinary ET levels before and after treatment were observed.
Results: Levels of UAE, plasma and urinary ET lowered significantly (P < 0.01) in the AS groups, while no significant change was shown in the control group. By correlation analysis, the decrement of UAE was positively correlated with the decrement of urinary and plasma ET levels (r = 0.72, P < 0.01 and r = 0.63, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: The protective effect of AS injection on DN is probably correlated with its inhibition on ET synthesis in kidney.