OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Jiangtang Yishen Recipe (JTYSR) on high insulin induced cell proliferation of human glomerular mesangial cells (HMCs) and the expression of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3K).

METHODSHMCs were divided into 4 groups, i.e., the negative control group, the high insulin model group, the JTYSR group, and the LY294002 group. The concentration of insulin, JTYSR, and LY294002 was respectively confirmed by pre-experiment. Different culture solution was respectively added for different groups. RPMI1640 culture solution was added for HMCs in the negative control group, while HMCs in the rest 3 groups were cultured by 100 nmol/L insulin for 24 h. Meanwhile, HMCs from the JTYSR group and the LY294002 group were exposed to 125 mg/L JTYSR and 80 micromol/L LY294002 respectively for further 48 h. The proliferation of HMCs was detected by MTT and flow cytometry. The protein expression of IRS-1 and PI-3K in HMC was detected by immunohistochemical assay and Western blot. Results The proliferation of HMCs induced by high insulin could be significantly lowered, and the protein expression of IRS-1 and PI-3K could be down-regulated in the JTYSR group and the LY294002 group (P <0.01). Compared with the LY294002 group, the protein expression of IRS-1 and PI-3K could be slightly down-regulated in the JTYSR group (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONJTYSR could lower high insulin induced proliferation of HMCs, and its mechanism might be related to insulin signaling pathway.