The renoprotective effects of taurine against diabetic nephropathy via the p38 MAPK and TGF- β/Smad2/3 signaling pathways

Amino Acids. 2023 Oct 7. doi: 10.1007/s00726-023-03342-w. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDiabetic nephropathy (DN), a severe diabetes complication, causes kidney morphological and structural changes due to extracellular matrix accumulation. This accumulation is caused mainly by oxidative stress. Semi-essential amino acid derivative taurine has powerful antioxidant and antifibrotic effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the renoprotective effects of taurine through its possible roles in oxidative stress, extracellular matrix proteins, and the signaling pathways associated with the accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins in DN rats. 29 Wistar albino rats were randomly separated into control, taurine, diabetes, and diabetes + taurine groups. Diabetes animals were injected 45 mg/kg streptozosine. Taurine is given by adding to drinking water as 1% (w/v). Urine, serum, and kidney tissue were collected from rats for biochemical and histological analysis after 12 weeks. According to the studies, taurine significantly reduces the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), total oxidant status (TOS), and protein expression of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) that increase in diabetic kidney tissue. Also, decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity levels significantly increased with taurine in diabetic rats. Moreover, increased mRNA and protein levels of fibronectin decreased with taurine. The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 activities and their mRNA levels increased significa...
Source: Amino Acids - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Source Type: research