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Pivot Concepts:
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Target Concepts:
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Query: UMLS:C0011881 (
diabetic nephropathy
)
10,836
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Recent studies suggested the involvement of inflammatory processes in the pathogenesis of
diabetic nephropathy
.
Methotrexate
(
MTX
), a folic acid antagonist, is widely used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Recently, it has been shown that treatment with low-dose
MTX
reduces the cardiovascular mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting that
MTX
has anti-atherosclerotic effects via its anti-inflammatory actions. This study was designed to determine the anti-inflammatory effects of this agent on
diabetic nephropathy
. Diabetes was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats with streptozotocin, and
MTX
(0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg) was administered once a week for 8 wk. Treatment with
MTX
reduced urinary albumin excretion, mesangial matrix expansion, macrophage infiltration, expression of TGF-beta and type IV collagen, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in glomeruli.
MTX
also reduced the high glucose-induced NF-kappaB activation in vitro and in vivo. The results indicate that intermittent administration of
MTX
prevented renal injuries without changes in blood glucose level and BP in experimental diabetic rats. The protective effects of
MTX
are suggested to be mediated by its anti-inflammatory actions through inhibition of NF-kappaB activation and consequent reduction of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression and macrophage infiltration. The results suggest that anti-inflammatory agents might be beneficial for the treatment of
diabetic nephropathy
.
...
PMID:Methotrexate prevents renal injury in experimental diabetic rats via anti-inflammatory actions. 1617 2
