EMPA blunts high glucose (HG)-induced differential regulation of EMT markers in HK-2 cells. A-D, Quiescent HK-2 cells treated with EMPA prior to HG addition (25 mM for 3 h) were analyzed for E-cadherin (A), fibronectin (B), α-SMA (C) and vimentin (D) protein expression by immunoblotting. A-D, The intensity of immunoreactive bands from three independent experiments was semi quantified by densitometry and summarized in the respective lower panels. * P < .05 versus Con, † P < at least 0.05 versus HG.