Objective:To discuss the ameliorative effect of total flavonoids from corn silk(TFCS)on kidney injury in the rats with urate nephropathy,and to clarify the possible mechanism.Methods:Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,positive control group[benzbromarone(BZM)group,5 mg·kg-1·d-1],low dose of TFCS group(20 mg·kg-1·d-1),medium dose of TFCS group(40 mg·kg-1·d-1),and high dose of TFCS group(80 mg·kg-1·d-1),and there were 10 rats in each group.Except for control group,the rats in the other groups were administered potassium oxonate(350 mg·kg-1)and adenine(70 mg·kg-1)by gavage for 4 weeks to establish the hyperuricemic nephropthy models.The rats in different doses of TFCS groups were treated with TFCS for 2 weeks.Speckle blood flow imager was used to detect the renal blood perfusion of the rats in various groups and the kidney coefficients of the rats in various groups were caculated;HE staining and Masson staining were used to observe the pathomorphology and fibrosis degrees of kidney tissue of the rats in various groups and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)method was used to detect the levels of uric acid(UA),creatinine(Cr),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),interleukin-6(IL-6),and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)in the serum and levels of β2-microglobulin(β2-MG)and microalbumin(ALB)in the urine of the rats in various groups;Western blotting method was used to detect the expression levels of urate transporter 1(URAT1),glucose transporter 9(GLUT9),and ATP-binding cassette transporter G2(ABCG2)proteins in kidney tissue of the rats in various groups.Results:Compared with control group,the renal blood perfusion volume of the rats in model group was significantly decreased(P<0.01).Compared with model group,the renal blood perfusion volumes of the rats in BZM group and low,medium,and high doses of TFCS groups were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with control group,the kidney weight of the rats in model group was increased,with visible white granular spots on the surface,absence of blood color,and kidney volume was increased.Compared with model group,the kidney volumes of the rats in BZM group and medium and high doses of TFCS groups were decreased,with color tending toward that in control group,and the white granular spots on the surface were significantly reduced.Compared with model group,the kidney coefficients of the rats in BZM group and medium and high doses of TFCS groups were decreased(P<0.01).The HE staining results showed there were no abnormalities in kidney tissue structure in control group,while there were a small amount of brown-yellow urate crystal deposition and interstitial connective tissue hyperplasia in model group;compared with model group,the kidney tissue damage and inflammatory infiltration were alleviated to varying degrees in BZM group and different doses of TFCS groups.The Masson staining results revealed no obvious collagen fiber deposition in control group,whereas significant blue collagen fiber deposition in kidney tissue of the rats was found in model group,and the collagen volume fraction(CVF)was increased compared with control group(P<0.01);compared with model group,the CVFs of the rats in BZM group and different doses of TFCS groups were decreased(P<0.01).The ELISA results showed that compared with control group,the levels of UA,Cr,BUN,IL-6,and TNF-α in serum of the rats in model group were increased(P<0.01);compared with model group,the levels of UA,Cr,BUN,IL-6,and TNF-α in serum of the rats in BZM group and medium and high doses of TFCS groups were decreased(P<0.01).Compared with control group,the levels of β2-MG and ALB in urinary in model group were increased(P<0.01);compared with model group,the levels of β2-MG and ALB in urinary of the rats in different doses of TFCS groups were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).The Western blotting results showed that compared with control group,the expression levels of URAT1 and GLUT9 proteins in kidney tissue of the rats in BZM group and model group were increased(P<0.01),while the expression level of ABCG2 protein was decreased(P<0.01).Compared with model group,the expression levels of URAT1 and GLUT9 proteins in kidney tissue of the rats in different doses of TFCS groups were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),and the expression level of ABCG2 protein was increased(P<0.01).Conclusion:TFCS can significantly alleviate the kidney injury in the rats with urate nephropathy model,and its mechanism may be related to the downregulation of expression of URAT1 and GLUT9 proteins and upregulation of ABCG2 protein expression in kidney tissue.

Aim To study the pharmacodynamics of antianxietic compound prescription capsule ( ACPC ) on acute stress in rats and the influence upon the ex-pression of ERK/CREB signal pathway and brain-de-rived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF) in the cerebral cor-tex and hippocampus of rats. Methods The elevated plus maze ( EPM ) test was applied to observe the effects of ACPC on acute stress rats administered 7 d low-, medium- and high-dose ( 0. 75 , 1. 5 , 3 g · kg-1 ) . The expression of ERK/CREB signal pathway and BDNF in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats were studied by using Western blot method. Re-sults In EPM, high-dose of ACPC increased signifi-cantly the rat open arm time ( OT%) ( P<0 . 05 ) and the percentage of open arm entries ( OE%) ( P <0. 05). In Western blot, the medium-dose of ACPC reduced significantly p-ERK1/2 expression in hippo-campus ( P <0. 05 ) , and high-dose group decreased significantly the expression of p-ERK1/2 and p-CREB in the cortex and hippocampus of rats ( P <0. 05 ) . High-dose group increased significantly the expression of BDNF in the cortex and hippocampus of rats ( P<0. 05 , P<0. 01 ) . Conclusion ACPC has anti-anxie-ty effect in the model of EPM, and its mechanism may be related to the ERK/CREB signal pathway and in-creased BDNF expression.