Frontiers in Pharmacology (Feb 2020)

The Protective Effect of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor on Diabetic Nephropathy Through Remodeling Metabolic Phenotype and Suppressing Oxidative Stress in Mice

  • Tingting Wei,
  • Tingting Wei,
  • Qi Shu,
  • Jie Ning,
  • Shuaijie Wang,
  • Chen Li,
  • Liangcai Zhao,
  • Hong Zheng,
  • Hongchang Gao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00066
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Diabetic nephropathy is a common complication in diabetes, but still lack of effective therapeutic strategies. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in db/db mice with diabetic nephropathy and explore its possible metabolic mechanisms using a nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomic approach. We found that bFGF treatment significantly alleviate urinary albumin to creatinine ratio and renal fibrosis in db/db mice, suggesting a potential renal protective effect. Metabolomics results reveal that bFGF remodeled metabolic phenotypes of the kidney and urine in db/db mice, mainly involving energy metabolism, methylamine metabolism, osmoregulation, and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the results show that bFGF-induced reductions of oxidative stress and apoptosis in db/db mice might be mediated by NOX-ROS-Nrf2 signaling. Therefore, our study suggests that the protective effect of bFGF on diabetic nephropathy could be mediated by remodeling metabolic phenotype and suppressing oxidative stress.

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