Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing global public health issue. Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) has favorable nephroprotective effects, but its role and mechanism in CKD need further investigation. Therefore, we observed the effect of Rg1 on the mouse kidneys after 21 days of low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. Meanwhile, we investigated the protective mechanism of Rg1 in LPS-induced mesangial cells using the Nrf2 inhibitor ML385. We found that chronic exposure to LPS caused fibrosis in mouse kidneys, accompanied by AIM2 activation and oxidative stress imbalance; however, Rg1 restored the anomalies, accompanied by activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling. Finally, our studies revealed that Rg1′s nephroprotective effects could be inhibited by ML385, and Rg1 can bind Nrf2, suggesting that the protective effects of Rg1 may involve Nrf2 activation and then inhibition of the AIM2. Our study has significant implications for the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases, particularly those related to inflammation.

中文翻译：

---

人参皂苷 Rg1 通过以 Nrf2 依赖性方式抑制 AIM2 炎症小体来减轻慢性炎症诱导的小鼠肾纤维化


慢性肾脏病（CKD）是一个日益严重的全球公共卫生问题。人参皂苷Rg1（Rg1）具有良好的肾保护作用，但其在CKD中的作用和机制有待进一步研究。因此，我们观察了低剂量脂多糖 (LPS) 暴露 21 天后 Rg1 对小鼠肾脏的影响。同时，我们利用Nrf2抑制剂ML385研究了Rg1对LPS诱导的系膜细胞的保护机制。我们发现，长期暴露于 LPS 会导致小鼠肾脏纤维化，并伴有 AIM2 激活和氧化应激失衡；然而，Rg1 恢复了异常，同时激活了 Nrf2/HO-1 信号传导。最后，我们的研究表明，Rg1的肾保护作用可以被ML385抑制，并且Rg1可以结合Nrf2，这表明Rg1的保护作用可能涉及Nrf2的激活，然后抑制AIM2。我们的研究对于预防和治疗肾脏疾病，特别是与炎症相关的疾病具有重要意义。