Tartary buckwheat
flavonoids (TBF) are active components extracted from Tartary buckwheat, which have abundant biological effects. According to this study, we investigated the effect of TBF on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced kidney
fibrosis and its related mechanisms. In vivo, we established an HFD-induced kidney
fibrosis model in mice and administered TBF. The results showed that TBF was able to alleviate kidney injury and inflammatory response. Subsequently, the
mRNA levels between the HFD group and the TBF + HFD group were detected using
RNA-seq assay. According to the gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) results, the differential genes were enriched in lipid metabolism and
mitogen-activated protein kinases(MAPK) signaling pathways. We examined the
protein expression of lipid metabolism-related pathways and the level of lipid metabolism. The results showed that TBF significantly activated the
adenosine monophosphate activated
protein kinase/
acetyl-CoA carboxylase (AMPK/ACC) pathway and effectively reduced kidney total
cholesterol (TC),
triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoproteinc
cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and increased
high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in mice. TBF also inhibited
transforming growth factor-β1/Smad (TGF-β1/Smad) and MAPK signaling pathways, thus slowing down the kidney
fibrosis process. In vitro, using
palmitic acid (PA) to stimulate TCMK-1 cells, the in vivo results similarly demonstrated that TBF could alleviate kidney
fibrosis in HFD mice by inhibiting TGF1/Smad signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway.