Influence of Huangqi Injection on tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation

Objective To observe the influence of Huangqi Injection on the epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation(EMT) induced by transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1) in human renal tubular epithelial cells(HK-2) cultured in vitro,and reveal the detail effective mechanism in the treatment of renal interstitial fibrosis(RIF).Methods HK-2 cells were divided into 3 groups,and in normal group HK-2 cells were normally cultured,in model group,stimulated with TGF-β1(8×10-9 mg/L) for 48 hours,and in treatment group,cultured together with TGF-β1(8×10-9 mg/L) and Huangqi Injection(8×10-6 mg/L) for 48 hours.The morphologic changes of HK-2 were observed with the inverted phase contrast microscope,and expressions of E-cadherin and a-smooth muscle actin(a-SMA) were observed by using immunohistochemistry assay.Results The observation results of the inverted phase contrast microscope showed that the morphologic changes experienced from epithelial-like transform to fibroblast-like transform in model group,and fibroblasts decreased and a lot of epithelioid cells were observed in treatment group.The results of immunohistochemistry assay showed that the expression of a-SMA increased and expression of E-cadherin decreased in model group compared with normal group,while in treatment group,expression of E-cadherin increased and expression of a-SMA decreased compared with model group.Conclusion Huangqi Injection can inhibit to a certain extent the phenotypic alternation induced by TGF-β1 in HK-2 cells,reduce the expression of a-SMA,improve the expression of E-cadherin,and block or reverse EMT progress.