Nephroprotective mechanism of Kunkui Baoshen decoction in diabetic kidney disease: Targeting the HERC2/NCOA4-mediated autophagy-dependent ferroptosis pathway

Figure 3 Kunkui Baoshen decoction alleviates inflammation, fibrosis, and cellular apoptosis in renal tissue of db/db mice. A-G: Quantification of key inflammatory and fibrotic markers in renal tissues across five groups, including: Transforming growth factor-β1, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, epithelial-cadherin, and α-smooth muscle actin; H: Assessment of renal tubular epithelial cell apoptosis using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-nick end labelling staining. Representative images are shown for each group (scale bars = 50 μm). E-cadherin: Epithelial-cadherin; TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor-β1; α-SMA: α-smooth muscle actin; IL-6: Interleukin-6; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; L-KKBS: Low-dose Kunkui Baoshen decoction; H-KKBS: High-dose Kunkui Baoshen decoction; TUNEL: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-nick end labelling. ^bP < 0.01 vs db/m group, ^cP < 0.001 vs db/m group, ^dP < 0.0001 vs db/m group; ^eP < 0.05 vs db/db group, ^fP < 0.01 vs db/db group, ^gP < 0.001 vs db/db group, and ^hP < 0.0001 vs db/db group.