Fig. 2
From: Nicotine exacerbates diabetic nephropathy through upregulation of Grem1 expression
Nicotine exacerbates mouse diabetic nephropathy. Control and experimental mice were divided into four groups: (1) control (abbreviated as C) group; (2) nicotine (N) group; (3) diabetic mellitus (D) group; (4) combination of nicotine and diabetic mellitus (N + D) group. At the end of the experimental period, urine samples were collected to assay the albumin: creatinine ratio (A), and blood samples were collected to determine BUN (B) and creatinine (C). RNA samples were collected from the kidneys, and real-time PCR was performed to determine the mRNA expression of KIM-1 and NGAL, respectively (D, E). The results (mean ± SD) from the samples of individual mice (n = 5 in the C group, 7 in the N group, 6 in the D group, and 8 in the N + D group) were displayed. For all groups, * (p < 0.05) compared with the control mice (C) group, and # (p < 0.05) compared with the diabetic mellitus (D) group