FIGURE 5.

DL-NBP treatment reduces diabetes-induced podocyte apoptosis in kidney. (A,B) Western blotting and quantification of Cleaved Caspase-3 expression in each group (n = 3). (C,D) Immunofluorescence staining of Cleaved Caspase-3 (red) in kidney of db/m (control) mice, db/db mice, DL-NBP mice (db/db mice were treated with 20, 60, or 120 mg⋅kg⁻¹ d⁻¹ of DL-NBP) (original magnification × 400) (n = 5). Scale bar = 20 μm. (E,F) Co-staining of nephrin (red) and TUNEL (green) (original magnification × 400) was used to detect the extent of cell apoptosis in each group (n = 5). Scale bar = 20 μm. TUNEL, TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling. All data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001 vs. db/m control; ^# p < 0.05, ^## p < 0.01, ^### p < 0.001 vs. db/db mice.