Conclusions
These results indicate that canagliflozin and irbesartan exert different effects on renal injury in SS hypertensive rats, and the combined regimen could have stronger effects than either monotherapy.
Methods
After the preconditioning stage, Dahl SS rats (n = 47) were divided into five experimental groups as follows: low-salt (LS, n = 7), HS (n = 10), HS with canagliflozin (n = 10), HS with irbesartan (n = 10), and HS with canagliflozin and irbesartan (n = 10).
Results
The HS diet increased systolic blood pressure (SBP), renal fibrosis, fibrotic protein expression, and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)/Smad2/3 pathway protein expression compared with the findings in the LS group. Irbesartan reduced SBP and slowed the loss of renal function. Canagliflozin significantly reduced body weight and renal fibrosis and suppressed the TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway. The combined therapy exerted better renoprotective effects on all outcome parameters. Conclusions: These results indicate that canagliflozin and irbesartan exert different effects on renal injury in SS hypertensive rats, and the combined regimen could have stronger effects than either monotherapy.