Anti-inflammatory Effects of Heart-protecting Musk Pill on Kidney of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

Objective:To investigate the effect of Heart-protecting Musk Pill(HMP)on inflammatory status of the kidney from spontaneously hypertensive rat(SHR),and to explore preventive and therapeutic usage of HMP on hypertensive nephropathy.Methods:SHR of 6 weeks old were divided into HMP group,high blood pressure model group,and age-matched Wistar-Kyoto rats were used as normal control.The effects of HMP on systolic blood pressure,expression of inflammation-related factors and level of oxidative stress were determined at 3 time points:6 weeks of treatment;14 weeks of treatment;and 9 weeks post-treatment.Results:HMP did not inference the elevation of blood pressure of SHR through period of treatment(P0.05).However,the TCM compound inhibited the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) at both mRNA and protein levels(P0.05).HMP also inhibited the mRNA expression of tumer nerosis factor-α(TNF-α) in SHR kidney(P0.05).At the time points of 14 weeks of treatment and 9 weeks post-treatment,HMP significantly attenuated peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor γ(PPARγ) mRNA expression(P0.05).The protein level of PPARγ was also inhibited by HMP markedly after 6 and 14 weeks of treatment(P0.05).After 14 weeks of treatment,HMP increased total anti-oxidant capacity of renal tissue from SHR(P0.05) and this elevated anti-oxidant capacity was even maintained for 9 weeks post-treatment(P0.05).In addition,HMP 14 week of treatment significantly reduced protein carbonyl contents of SHR kidney(P0.05).Conclusion:HMP can improve the inflammatory status of SHR kidney independent of interfering with blood pressure.The anti-inflammatory effect of HMP was also acccmpanied by the decreasing level of oxidative stress,which may serve base for the advanced therapeutic utility of HMP in hypertensive renal disease.