Figure 4.
Effect of Tangzhiqing granules on TGF-β1, p-smad2/3, and smad2/3 expression levels in renal cortex tissues. Protein expression levels of TGF-β1, p-smad2/3, and smad2/3 were analyzed by western blotting (a). Relative protein expression levels of TGF-β1, p-smad2/3, and smad2/3 were shown in (b), (c), and (d). Data were presented as mean ± SD and normalized to β-actin protein expression. The mRNA expression levels of TGF-β1 were assessed by real-time PCR (e). The data were expressed as mean ± SD and normalized to β-actin mRNA expression. ∗P < 0.05 versus control group; #P < 0.05 compared to DM group; ▲P < 0.05, compared to TZQ2 group.