Exploring the Protective Effect of the Ethanolic Extract of Rosa laevigata Michx. Fruit on Rats with Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis Based on NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of the ethanolic extract of Rosa laevigata Michx. fruit on rats with mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis based on the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. Methods: Thirty Wistar rats were divided into three groups, a blank control group, a diabetic nephropathy (DN) model group, and an ethanolic extract intervention group, according to the random number table method, with 10 rats in each group. One day before the experiment, basic feeding was initiated for all the rats; the changes in activity and weight of each group of rats were observed and recorded after 7 d, and a rat model of renal function injury was established after 1 d. Results: Compared with the control group, the model group had significantly higher kidney/body ratio, 24 h urine protein, serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), glomerular mesangial cell (GMC) count, and extracellular matrix (ECM) positive area ratio (P < 0.05); the same indicators were  significantly lower in the intervention group than in the model group (P < 0.05). The NLRP3 inflammasome pathway in renal intrinsic cells was activated in the intervention group. The overactivation of NLRP3 inflammasome is known to promote interleukin (IL)-1? release, which was inhibited in the intervention group. Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of Rosa laevigata Michx. fruit has a protective effect on renal intrinsic cells and may be related to NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, suggesting that the fruit of Rosa laevigata Michx. has a potential role in protecting renal intrinsic cells from inflammatory damage. NLRP3 inflammasomes are involved in the development of various chronic inflammatory diseases, such as acute and chronic glomerulonephritis and renal fibrosis.