Fig. 8.

CG, an active compound from BHD, protects against high glucose-induced cell fibrosis and inflammation through regulating TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling. A Real-time PCR analysis of fibronectin and IL-1β mRNA levels for five compounds (10, 20 and 40 μM) under high glucose conditions in vitro. Five compounds: 1. calycosin-7-glucoside (CG); 2. paeoniflorin (PF); 3. ferulic acid (FA); 4. amygdalin (AG); 5. hydroxysafflor yellow A (HYA). B Western blot and quantitative data for fibronectin (FN), collagen I (Col I), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), TNF-α and phosphorylated Smad3. HG, high glucose; SIS3, a specific Smad3 inhibitor, 2 μM. CG: 40 μM. Data represent the means  ±  SEM from 3–4 independent experiments. *P  <  0.05, **P  <  0.01, ***P  <  0.001 versus normal control. ^#P  <  0.05, ^##P  <  0.01, ^###P  <  0.001 versus high glucose