Research Paper|Volume 16, Issue 11|pp 9933—9943

Ginsenoside Rg3 induces mesangial cells proliferation and attenuates apoptosis by miR-216a-5p/MAPK pathway in diabetic kidney disease

Yuanzhen Chen¹, Yuhuan Peng², Ping Li¹, Ying Jiang¹, Dan Song¹

¹Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen Guangming District People’s Hospital, Guangming, Shenzhen 518000, China
²Department of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Guangming District People’s Hospital, Guangming, Shenzhen 518000, China

* Equal contribution

Received: January 31, 2024Accepted: May 6, 2024Published: June 7, 2024

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205907

Copyright: © 2024 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Background: Ginsenoside Rg3 is an active saponin isolated from ginseng, which can reduce renal inflammation. However, the role and mechanism of Rg3 in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) are far from being studied.

Methods: The effects of Rg3 and miR-216a-5p on the proliferation, apoptosis, and MAPK pathway in high glucose (HG)-induced SV40 MES 13 were monitored by CCK-8, TUNEL staining, and western blot.

Results: Rg3 treatment could accelerate proliferation and suppress apoptosis in HG-induced SV40 MES. Moreover, miR-216a-5p inhibition also could alleviate renal injury, prevent apoptosis, and activate the MAPK pathway in kidney tissues of diabetic model mice.

Conclusion: Rg3 could attenuate DKD progression by downregulating miR-216a-5p, suggesting Rg3 and miR-216a-5p might be the potential drug and molecular targets for DKD therapy.