Abstract: Objective To investigate whether recombinant globular adiponectin can reduce kidney injury in diabetic mice by regulating autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Methods Mice were randomly divided into control group,diabetic model group, low and high dose of adiponectin group (5 and 15 μg/kg dose of recombinant globular adiponectin was injected). There were 8 mice in each group. After eight weeks, blood samples were collected to determine the level of blood glucose, urea nitrogen and creatinine by biochemical method and the level of insulin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Bilateral kidneys were taken to calculate the ratio of the kidney mass to body mass. The renal cortex tissue samples were stained with HE, and the rest were kept at -70 ℃. The mRNA expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress indicators (GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12) and autophagy indicators (LC3, Beclin1 and p62) was determined by real-time quantitative PCR. Results Compared with control group, the level of blood glucose, creatinine and urea nitrogen, and the ratio of the kidney/body mass were significantly increased (P＜0.05), and the level of blood insulin was significantly reduced (P＜0.05) in model group. There were significant pathological changes in kidney in diabetic mice in model group compared with control group. The mRNA expression of GRP78, CHOP, caspase-12 and p62 was significantly increased (P＜0.05), and the mRNA expression of LC3 and Beclin1 was significantly reduced(P＜0.05) in kidney in model group compared with control group. Compared with model group, adiponectin can significantly relieve the changes in model group (P＜0.05). Conclusions Recombinant globular adiponectin may alleviate the renal injury in diabetic mice by regulating autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Key words: adiponectin, diabetic nephropathy, endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy