%0 Journal Article %A Derakhshanian, Hoda %A Djazayery, Abolghassem %A Javanbakht, Mohammad Hassan %A Eshraghian, Mohammad Reza %A Mirshafiey, Abbas %A Zarei, Mahnaz %A Alvandi, Ehsan %A Djalali, Ehsan %A Djalali, Mahmoud %T The Effect of Vitamin D on Cellular Pathways of Diabetic Nephropathy %J Reports of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology %V 7 %N 2 %U http://rbmb.net/article-1-204-en.html %R %D 2019 %K Diabetes Mellitus, Hexosamine pathway, Nephropathy, Vitamin D., %X Background: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most important microvascular complications and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. This study was designed to investigate the effect of vitamin D on the expression of three key genes involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy. Methods: Twenty-four male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups. The first group served as control and the other two groups received intraperitoneal injections of 45 mg/kg STZ to develop diabetes. The groups were treated for four weeks either with placebo or two vitamin D injections of 20,000 IU/kg. Serum glucose, insulin, and HbA1c levels, and AGE cellular receptor (RAGE), aldose reductase (AR) and glutamine: fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT) gene expression were assessed in kidney tissue at the end of the experiment. Results: Vitamin D treatment resulted in a significant increase in insulin concentration, which could improve hyperglycaemia in diabetic rats. Serum HbA1c decreased slightly but insignificantly following the vitamin D injections. In addition, expression of GFAT, a key regulatory enzyme in the hexosamine pathway, was significantly reduced following vitamin D administration. Conclusions: Vitamin D may reduce diabetic nephropathy not only by improving blood glucose and insulin levels, but also by modulating hexosamine pathways in kidney. %> http://rbmb.net/article-1-204-en.pdf %P 217-222 %& 217 %! Vitamin D and Diabetic Nephropathy %9 Original Article %L A-10-126-1 %+ Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. %G eng %@ 2322-3480 %[ 2019