Study on metallothionein expression in rats with diabetic nephropathy kidney

Objective To study the metallothionein(MT-1)expression in diabetic nephropathy kidney of rats induced by streptozotosin(STZ).Methods Rats were induced diabetic nephropathy using STZ tail intravenous injection.The immunochemical and RT-PCR technique were used to study the MT-1 protein and mRNA expressions in the kidney tissues of normal and diabetic nephropathy rats.Results Weak MT-1 expression was detected in normal renal tissues while strong MT-1 staining was detected in renal tissues of diabetic nephropathy(P0.05).The MT-1 protein expression was increased with the development of diabetic nephropathy.The expression of MT-1,TNF-α,MIP-1,COX2,TGF-B,PAI-1,Col-3 mRNA increased in renal tissues of 16 weeks diabetic nephropathy rats.(P0.05).Conclusion Both MT-1 mRNA and protein expression were increased in STZ induced diabetic nephropathy rats indicated that MT-1 might be play an important role in pathophy siology process of diabetic nephropathy development.It might be relative to oxidize-injure and might be one of cellular defense reactions.