Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1476735

Oral administration of ethanol extract from Gynura procumbens stems corrects kidney injury and renal anemia in chronic kidney disease

Provisionally accepted
Ting-Ting Li Ting-Ting Li Li-Ying Wen Li-Ying Wen Meng ShaSha Meng ShaSha Yu-Sang Li Yu-Sang Li *He-Bin Tang He-Bin Tang *
  • South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Gynura procumbens (Lour.) Merr. is a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine that reduces hepatotoxicity, relieves kidney discomfort, and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of an ethanol extract from G. procumbens stems (EEGS) and selected metabolites on kidney injury and renal anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). An adenine-induced rat CKD model was used to elucidate the effective mechanism of EEGS and selected metabolites to correct renal anemia. The results showed that treatment with EEGS reversed abnormal changes in the blood indicators, including hemoglobin, red blood cells, serum erythropoietin (EPO), and creatinine levels. Moreover, EEGS inhibited xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity in vitro, significantly inhibited liver XOD activity, and reduced intrahepatic inflammatory infiltration. Analysis of the pathological changes revealed that EEGS treatments resulted in reduced renal tubular apoptosis, decreased a number of crystals, a narrowed tubular lumen, and attenuated tubular fibrosis. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that EEGS significantly ameliorated the adenine-induced abnormal changes in the expression of related proteins, including β-catenin, COX-2, HIF-2α, and EPO, in the rat kidney tissues. Among the selected EEGS metabolites, the combined effect of chlorogenic acid and trans-p-coumaric acid was superior to that of either compound alone. These results suggest that EEGS and selected metabolites can effectively correct renal anemia in CKD rats by inhibiting XOD activity, reducing inflammation, and alleviating renal injury.

    Keywords: Chronic Kidney Disease, Renal anemia, ethanol extract from Gynura procumbens stems, Chlorogenic Acid, Trans-p-coumaric acid

    Received: 06 Aug 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Wen, ShaSha, Li and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yu-Sang Li, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, China
    He-Bin Tang, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.