Drug pair of Cornus officinalis and Radix achyranthis bidentatae improves renal injury of hypertension by regulating metabolic reprogramming mediated by eNOS.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the effects and possible mechanisms of the drug pair Cornus officinalis and Radix achyranthis bidentatae (SYR-NX) on improving hypertensive kidney damage.

METHOD

SYR-NX, a formulation of Cornus officinalis and Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae with a dose ratio 1:2.5, was used in this experiment. We investigated the effects of SYR-NX on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) fed with a high-salt diet and Human Kidney-2 (HK2) cells exposed to hypoxia. After 8 weeks of treatment with SYR-NX, blood pressure was tested, and β 2-Microglobulin(β2-MG), blood creatinine (S-cr), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), M2 pyruvate kinase (PKM2), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), pyruvate, lactate, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)were measured. HK2 cells pre-treated with SYR-NX were cultured in a three-gas hypoxic incubator chamber (5 % CO, 1 % O, 94 % N) for 12 h, and then eNOS, PKM2, NADPH, ATP, pyruvate, lactate, CTGF and TNF-α were assessed.

RESULTS

SYR-NX significantly reduced SBP, DBP, β2-MG, S-cr, PKM2, pyruvate, lactate, CTGF and TNF-α, and increased eNOS, NADPH, and ATP.

CONCLUSION

SYR-NX can regulate metabolic reprogramming through eNOS and improves hypertensive kidney injury.