Abstract
The antinephritic effect of Butein on original-type anti-GBM nephritis in rats was investigated. Butein was given to original-type anti-GBM nephritic rats for 15 days from the day of anti-GBM serum injection.
Butein prevented urinary protein excretion on 1, 11 and 15 days. Histopathological observations of the glomeruli indicated that although the number of nuclei and adhesion of capillary walls to Bowman's capsule in nephritic control rats were significantly increased, butein reduced the degree of histopathological changes such as hypercellularity and adhesion as compared to the control rats. Although the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the nephritic glomeruli was significantly greater than that in normal rats on 5 days, the increase of ICAM-1 expression was suppressed by butein.
In vitro studies, butein inhibited the up-regulation of ICAM-1 on the surface of cultured endothelial cells in response to tumor necrosis factor-α or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) .
These results suggest that antinephritic action of butein is due to the suppression of the intraglomerular infiltration of leukocytes through the inhibition of the up-regulation of ICAM-1 expression in nephritic glomeruli.
