en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <p>Objective: Atorvastatin has the pleiotropic effects, including anti-inflammation and antioxidant. Therefore, this study considered to examine the effects of atorvastatin on NF-қB expression, as a main transcription factor for expression of inflammatory cytokines, in hyperglycemia-induced nephropathy in rat.</p> <p>Materials and Methods: Twenty four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups; Normal, Normal treatment, Diabetic, and Diabetic treatment. Rats were made diabetic by an intravenous injection of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg). Treated rats received atorvastatin for 60 days (40 mg/kg/day). At the end of experiment, blood samples were collected for measurement of blood glucose. Moreover, the mRNA expression level of NF-қB in kidney was determined by RT-PCR technique.</p> <p>Results: Induction of diabetes significantly increased the mean value of blood glucose in diabetic rats (>450 mg/dl) compared with normal rats (P=0.001). Chronic hyperglycemia also increased the mRNA expression level of NF-қB in diabetic kidney. Moreover, the mean value of kidney index was significantly increased in diabetic rats compared to normal group (P=0.001). Treatment with atorvastatin in diabetic rats for 60 days reduced the mRNA expression level of NF-қB and kidney index compared to non-treated diabetic rats (P=0.014).</p> <p>Conclusion: Our findings revealed that atorvastatin is able to prevent the development of diabetic nephropathy during chronic uncontrolled hyperglycemia possibly by the inhibition of NF-қB expression in the kidneys of diabetic rats.</p> Nephropathy, Atorvastatin, Hyperglycemia, NF-қB 77 84 http://ijdo.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-30-141&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Taghi Mohammadi No . Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Nastaran Faghihi Yes Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Akram Eidi No Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran