Abstract
Tripterine is a chemical isolated from a traditional Chinese herb which had been testified for its anti‐inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities in a previous study. However, little is known about the effects and mechanism of action of Tripterine on treating lupus nephritis. In the present study we investigated the effect of Tripterine on the F1 hybrids of New Zealand Black (NZB) and New Zealand White (NZW) mice which functioned as a model of human systemic lupus erythematosus (BW F1 mice) and evaluated the possible mechanism implicated in the mRNA expression of TGF‐β1 and collagen IV expression of the BW F1 mice kidney tissue. Different doses of Tripterine were injected peritoneally to BW F1 mice at different stages to study the preventive effects of Tripterine on lupus nephritis glomerulosclerosis and its mechanisms. Twenty‐four hour urine protein excretion, serum anti‐dsDNA antibodies and the expression of collagen type IV were examined by immunohistochemistry while the expression of TGF‐β1 mRNA was detected by RT nested PCR. Tripterine decreased urine protein excretion and the level of serum anti‐dsDNA antibodies and also suppressed the expression of collagen type IV and TGF‐β1 mRNA in the murine kidney tissue. Administration of Tripterine before the occurrence of proteinuria had much greater protective effects than if it was administered after the occurrence of proteinuria. No significant difference was found between the 3 mg/kg/week Tripterine‐treated‐group and the 6 mg/kg/week Tripterine‐treated‐group. Tripterine had a definite protective effect on glomerulosclerosis of the lupus murine model. Tripterine could significantly reduce the amount of urine protein excretion, suppress the formation of serum anti‐dsDNA antibodies, it could also efficiently decrease the expression of renal collagen type IV probably due to its suppressive effect on the expressions of local TGF‐(1 mRNA) in this model. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.