Protective Effects of Dioscin and Diosgenin on Plateau Hyperuricemia by Attenuating Renal Inflammation via EPHX2.

Plateau hyperuricemia is a common disease in the plateau area, and the incidence is much higher than that in the plain area. Dioscin (DIO) and its active metabolite Diosgenin (DG) exert therapeutic effects on hyperuricemia through oxidative stress and inflammation. In this study, DIO and its active metabolite DG were taken as the research objects to explore their therapeutic effects on high-altitude hyperuricemia in rats. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of DIO on the rat model of high-altitude hyperuricemia, the evaluation indexes include blood biochemical indexes, renal histopathology, oil red O staining of the kidney, rat kidney index, and rat renal inflammatory factors. Transcriptomics was used to analyze the control group, model group, and drug-administered group to preliminarily explore the protective mechanism of DIO in rats with high-altitude hyperuricemia. An HK-2 high-altitude hyperuricemia cell injury model was established to verify the therapeutic mechanism of DIO in rats with high-altitude hyperuricemia. Western blot was used to detect the expression of related proteins in renal tissues and cell models. The results showed that DIO and its active metabolite DG regulate renal lipid metabolism through the EPHX2 gene, attenuate renal inflammatory reaction, and then promote the excretion of uric acid and reduce its reabsorption, which ultimately achieves the effect of treating plateau hyperuricemia.