Deciphering the pharmacological mechanisms of Rostellularia procumbens (L) Nees. Extract alleviates adriamycin-induced nephropathy in vivo and in vitro

Background: Rostellularia procumbens (L) Nees. is an effective traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) in the clinic. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms need further elucidation. Purpose: This study aims to investigate the renoprotective mechanisms of n-butanol extract from Rostellularia procumbens (L) Nees. (J-NE) in vivo and in vitro. Methods: The components of J-NE were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS. In vivo, the nephropathy model was induced in mice by tail vein injection with adriamycin (10 mg.kg(-1)), and mice were treated with vehicle or J-NE or benazepril by daily gavage. In vitro, MPC5 cells exposed to adriamycin (0.3 mu g/ml) were treated with J-NE. The effects of J-NE inhibit podocyte apoptosis and protect against adriamycin-induced nephropathy were determined by Network pharmacology, RNA-seq, qPCR, ELISA, immunoblotting, flow cytometry, and TUNEL assay, according to the experimental protocols. Result: The results showed that treatment significantly improved ADR-induced renal pathological changes, and the therapeutic mechanism of J-NE was related to the inhibition of podocyte apoptosis. Further molecular mechanism studies found that J-NE inhibited inflammation, increase the proteins expression levels of Nephrin and Podocin, reduce TRPC6 and Desmin expression levels and calcium ion levels in podocytes, and decrease the proteins expression levels of PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt and p-Akt to attenuated apoptosis. Furthermore, 38 compounds of J-NE were identified. Conclusion: J-NE exerted the renoprotective effects by inhibiting podocyte apoptosis, which provides effective evidence for the treatment of J-NE targeting renal injury in CGN.