Intervention effect and mechanism of oat β-glucan on diabetic nephropathy in rats

  Objective  To explore intervention effect and mechanism of oat β-glucan (OG) on diabetic nephropathy (DN) in rats.

  Methods  Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat DN model was established with peritoneal injection of streptozotocin(65 mg/kg·bw) plus unilateral nephrectomy. Then the model rats were divided in to 4 groups (12 in each group) : a DN model group gavaged with distilled water and three OG groups gavaged with OG at dosages of 0.275, 0.55, and 1.1 g/kg.bw once a day for 8 consecutive weeks. Another 10 normal control rats were treated with distilled water and sham operation. By the end of the experiment, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) , uric acid (UA) , and creatinine (CR) and serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured; pathological changes of kidneys were also observed.

  Results  The BUN (14.80 ± 3.63 mmol/L), VEGF (312.54 ± 13.39 ng/L), and IL-6 (145.96 ± 5.67 ng/L) of the DN model rats were significantly higher than those of the normal control rats (P < 0.05 for all). Compared with those of the DN model rats, the BUN (10.39 ± 2.04 mmol/L) of the DN rats treated with 0.275 g/kg.bw OG decreased significantly; the VEGF (269.94 ± 16.70 ng/L) and IL-6 (129.71 ± 6.48 ng/L) of the DN rats treated with 0.550 g/kg.bw OG were reduced significantly (both P < 0.05). In addition, alleviated structure damage of kidney tissues were observed in all the DN rats treated with OG in contrast to the DN model rats.

  Conclusion  Oat β-glucan could effectively improve renal function and attenuate damages of kidney tissue by down-regulating inflammation-related factors in rats with diabetic nephropathy.