Bruton's tyrosine kinase regulates macrophage-induced inflammation in the diabetic kidney via NLRP3 inflammasome activation

Zhao, Jing; Chen, Juan; Li, Yuan-Yuan; Xia, Ling-Ling; Wu, Yong-Gui

It has been previously reported that macrophages may be involved in diabetic nephropathy (DN) development. Furthermore, Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) may participate in macrophage activation and lead to the release of inflammatory mediators. The main aim of the present study was to analyze the association between renal BTK expression and clinical indicators. Moreover, BTK knockout mice were used to establish a diabetic model for further research. The results demonstrated that BTK was activated in the kidneys of patients with DN and was associated with the progression of proteinuria, creatinine levels, estimated glomerular filtration rate and pathological changes in the kidneys of patients with DN. Furthermore, BTK knockout was observed to reduce urinary protein excretion, alleviate renal injury and decrease renal inflammation in diabetic mice. This protection may be attributed to BTK-induced suppression of the activation of the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome. Collectively, it has been demonstrated in the present study that BTK may be a potential target for DN treatment.