Effect of short-term acumagnetotherapy on diabetic kidney disease in patients with type II diabetes and study on the molecular mechanism

ObjectiveTo explore whether magnetotherapy is preventive in retarding diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progression and investigate underling molecular mechanisms related to its therapeutic efficacy.MethodsTwenty-eight patients with type II diabetes (T2D) were undergone pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) stimulation at the acupoints of Píshū ( BL 20), Zúsānl ( ST 36), Shènshū ( BL 23) and Yíshū (, EX-B3) for a period of 4 weeks. Urinary micro-albumin (U-mAlb) excretion, plasma methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the patients were used for evaluating therapeutic efficacies.ResultsAfter the acumagnetotherapy, U-mAlb excretion in the participated patients was markedly reduced (27.21±3.51 vs 8.51±0.95, P<0.001) accompanied with decreased MDA (16.46±1.17 vs 12.40±1.86, P<0.05) and LPS (37.41±3.84 vs 21.63±3.61, P<0.05) levels in plasma while the metabolic control of these patients was not significantly altered. Acumagnetotherapy increased IκBα content (0.69±1.17 vs 1.30±0.29, P<0.01), an inhibitory protein of inflammatory response, and correspondingly reduced the protein levels of inflammatory activating proteins, NF-κB p65 (0.98±0.42 vs 0.43±0.28, P<0.05) and NF-κB p50 (1.19±0.40 vs 0.76±0.30, P<0.05). The acumagnetotherapy also inhibited the oxidant-producing enzyme, Nox4 protein expression (1.32±0.40 vs 0.37±0.23, P<0.05) in patient's blood lymphocytes.ConclusionShort-term intervention of acumagnetotherapy in patients with T2D mitigates DKD progress potentially by its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects.