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ObjectiveTo study the therapeutic effects and mechanism of a Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tripterygium hypoglaucum Hutch (THH) on Chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) in rats.MethodsThe rats with CGN were prepared by injecting the rabbit serum of anti-rat kidney and divided into 7 groups including normal control, model control, two positive drug controls (Tripterygium wilfordi and prednisone acetate), and 3 THH groups with different doses, and given ig DW 10 ml/kg, DW 10 ml/kg, Tripterygium wilfordi 7.75 mg/kg, prednisone acetate 3.6 mg/kg, and THH 1.88 g, 3.75 g, and 7.50g/kg, once a day for 4 weeks, respectively. During the period of experiments relatively general conditions, some of laboratory parameters, and pathomorphology of kidneys were observed from the rats above. The mechanism of THH was investigated for treatment of CGN involving in the damage to kidneys related to free radicals and inflammation.ResultsIt was shown that the injection of rabbit serum of anti-rat kidney caused rats to develop CGN with typical symptoms including increasing urinary protein, high levels of TC, TG, Scr, and BUN in serum, decreasing renal functions, increasing NOS but decreasing SOD activities, raising the levels of MDA and NO in both serum and kidney tissue, and promoting the releases of inflammatory mediators (such as IL-1, IL-6, and TNFα) and inflammatory reaction in the kidneys. The administration of THH not only prevented the elevation of urinary protein, TC, TG, Scr, and BUN in serum, but also decreased the releases of inflammatory mediators and inflammatory reaction, blunted the elevation of MDA and NO levels, as well as improved renal functions and phathomorphorlogy in dose-dependent manner, compared with model rats. Similar results to Tripterygium wilfordi and prednisone acetate were observed at the comparable doses.ConclusionAll above indicate that THH may be a potent candidate for treatment of CGN in clinical practice and have superior therapertic effect to Tripterygium wilfordi. Its
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