Author(s)

Hongru Liu ¹, Nan Guo ¹, Chenxi Li ¹, Ping Fan ²

Affiliation(s)

¹ Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, Shaanxi, 712046, China
² Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710003, China

Corresponding Author

Ping Fan

ABSTRACT

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the complications of diabetes mellitus, which has become an economic burden for human societies all over the world, and its progression may lead to renal fibrosis in later stages, altering the prognosis and quality of survival of diabetic patients. Numerous studies have shown that inflammation, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum stress promote the progression of renal fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy. Subject to the limitations of conventional Western medical treatment strategies, Chinese medicine has unique advantages in intervening diabetic renal fibrosis, and research on Chinese medicine monomers and compound formulas has made some progress so far, confirming that a variety of signaling pathways can delay the development of diabetic nephropathy and renal fibrosis, among which, the MAPK signaling pathway promotes inflammatory and fibrotic responses, and regulates the level of glucose and lipid metabolism. Experimental studies have shown that the treatment of DN by TCM may be realized through the MAPK signaling pathway. The article reviewed the regulatory mechanism of MAPK signaling pathway on DN and the progress of TCM monomers and TCM combinations in regulating the MAPK signaling pathway for the treatment of DN, with the aim of providing more theoretical basis for the research and development of TCM for the treatment of DN, and for the clinical use of medication. 

KEYWORDS

Traditional Chinese medicine; renal fibrosis; diabetic nephropathy; signaling pathway; mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)

CITE THIS PAPER

Hongru Liu, Nan Guo, Chenxi Li, Ping Fan, Modulation of MAPK Signaling Pathway by Traditional Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Diabetic Renal Fibrosis. MEDS Chinese Medicine (2023) Vol. 5: 40-47. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/medcm.2023.050806.

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