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To investigate the effects of Korean ginseng (KG, Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) and heat-processed Korean ginseng (H-KG) on diabetic renal damage, we used the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model in this study. The diabetes-induced physiological abnormalities at early-stage were attenuated by KG or H-KG administration through reducing the blood glucose level and improving renal function. The oxidative stress-induced increases in serum and renal thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels were significantly reduced by KG and H-KG administrations. Moreover, the protein expressions related to oxidative stress and advanced glycation endproducts were significantly reduced in diabetic rats and/or not significantly increased compared to normal rats by KG or H-KG administration. All of these beneficial effects of H-KG in diabetic rats were stronger than those of KG. Therefore, KG and H-KG may improve diabetic pathological conditions and prevent renal damage associated with diabetic nephropathy, and these protective effects of KG can be improved by heat-processing. This study provides scientific evidence that H-KG may be a potential therapeutic agent for pathological conditions associated with diabetic complications including diabetic nephropathy.

This study examined whether Kangen-karyu and its crude drug, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix, have a reno-protective effect on the age-related oxidative stress and inflammatory response through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in aged rats. Kangen-karyu or Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (20 mg/kg body weight/day) was administered orally to old groups of rats for 16 days, and their effects were compared with the vehicle-treated old and young rats. The administration of Kangen-karyu caused a slight decrease in the serum glucose level and a significant decrease in the serum insulin level in the old rats. The increased levels of serum renal functional parameter (urea-nitrogen) and oxidative parameter were significantly reduced by both Kangen-karyu and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix. The old rats exhibited a dysregulation of the protein expression related to insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation in the kidneys, but Kangen-karyu administration significantly reduced the expression of the inflammatory proteins through the PI3K/Akt pathway. On the other hand, the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix-treated old rats showed a decrease in the inflammatory cytokines through the MAPK pathway. These results provide important evidence that Kangen-karyu and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix have a pleiotropic effect on the PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways, showing renoprotective effects against the development of inflammation in old rats. This study provides scientific evidence that Kangen-karyu and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix improve the inflammatory responses via the PI3K/Akt or MAPK pathways in the kidney of old rats.

Cisplatin, a platinum chelate with potent antitumor activity against cancers of the testis, ovary, urinary bladder, prostate, and head and neck, has adverse effects on the kidney, bone marrow, and digestive organs, and its use is particularly limited by nephropathy as a side effect. In the present study, safflower seed extract was administered to a mouse model of cisplatin-induced acute renal failure to investigate its activity. Cisplatin (20mg/kg body weight) was administered by intraperitoneal injection to mice that had received oral safflower seed extract (100 or 200mg/kg body weight per day) for the preceding 2 days. Three days after the cisplatin injection, serum and renal biochemical factors; oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis-related protein expression; and histological findings were evaluated. Cisplatin-treated control mice showed body-weight, food intake and water intake loss, and increased kidney weight, whereas the administration of safflower seed extract attenuated these effects ($p<0.05$, $p<0.01$). Moreover, safflower seed extract significantly decreased the renal functional parameters urea nitrogen and creatinine in the serum ($p<0.05$ and $p<0.01$, respectively). Safflower seed extract also significantly reduced the enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species in the kidney observed following cisplatin treatment, with significance. The expression of proteins related to the anti-oxidant defense system in the kidney was down-regulated following cisplatin treatment, but safflower seed extract significantly up-regulated the expression of the anti-oxidant enzyme catalase. Furthermore, safflower seed extract reduced the overexpression of phosphor (p)-p38, nuclear factor-kappa B p65, cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, ATR, p-p53, Bax, and caspase 3 proteins, and mice treated with safflower seed extract exhibited less renal histological damage. These results provide important evidence that safflower seed extract exerts a pleiotropic effect on several oxidative stress- and apoptosis-related parameters and has a renoprotective effect in cisplatin-treated mice.