Astragaloside IV inhibits the up-regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) on the regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). METHODS Rat renal interstitial fibrosis models were prepared using unilateral ureteral ligation. Rats were randomly divided into sham group, sham group with AS-IV (33mg/kg), unilateral ureteral obstruction group, and unilateral ureteral obstruction group receiving varied doses of AS-IV (3.3, 10, and 33 mg/kg). Immunohistochemical analysis, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR), and western blot were used to detect the expression of genes and proteins associated with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in renal tissues. RESULTS Levels of Wnt3, Wnt4, and Frizzled gene expression increased significantly in the UUO model; AS-IV was associated with the downregulation of the expression of Wnt3, Wnt4, Frizzled4, p-LRP5, p-LRP6, disheveled, β-catenin, LEF-1, TCF-1, Snail, Jagged 1, Twist, MMP2, and MMP7 proteins in a concentration-dependent manner, while the expression of APC, CK1, and E-cadherin was increased. CONCLUSIONS AS-IV effectively inhibits the up-regulation of proteins in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in UUO-model rats, indicating its possible inhibitory effects on renal interstitial fibrosis.