en زیست شناسی ملکولی Molecular Biology مقالات اصلی Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background:</strong> Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most important microvascular complications and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. This study was designed to investigate the effect of vitamin D on the expression of three key genes involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy.<br> <br> <strong>Methods:</strong> Twenty-four male Sprague&ndash;Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups. The first group served as control and the other two groups received intraperitoneal injections of 45 mg/kg STZ to develop diabetes. The groups were treated for four weeks either with placebo or two vitamin D injections of 20,000 IU/kg. Serum glucose, insulin, and HbA1c levels, and AGE cellular receptor (<em>RAGE</em>), aldose reductase (<em>AR</em>) and glutamine: fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (<em>GFAT</em>) gene expression were assessed in kidney tissue at the end of the experiment.<br> <br> <strong>Results:</strong> Vitamin D treatment resulted in a significant increase in insulin concentration, which could improve hyperglycaemia in diabetic rats. Serum HbA1c decreased slightly but insignificantly following the vitamin D injections. In addition, expression of GFAT, a key regulatory enzyme in the hexosamine pathway, was significantly reduced following vitamin D administration.<br> <br> <strong>Conclusions:</strong> Vitamin D may reduce diabetic nephropathy not only by improving blood glucose and insulin levels, but also by modulating hexosamine pathways in kidney.</div> Diabetes Mellitus, Hexosamine pathway, Nephropathy, Vitamin D. 217 222 http://rbmb.net/browse.php?a_code=A-10-126-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Hoda Derakhshanian h.derakhshanian@gmail.com 100319475328460017098 100319475328460017098 No Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Nutrition, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran. & Dietary Supplements and Probiotic Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran. Abolghassem Djazayery 100319475328460017099 100319475328460017099 No Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Hassan Javanbakht mhjavan2001@yahoo.com 100319475328460017100 100319475328460017100 No Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Reza Eshraghian eshraghianmr@yahoo.com 100319475328460017101 100319475328460017101 No Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Abbas Mirshafiey mirshafiey@tums.ac.ir 100319475328460017102 100319475328460017102 No Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mahnaz Zarei mahnazzareei@yahoo.com 100319475328460017103 100319475328460017103 No Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Ehsan Alvandi ehsanalvandi@gmail.com 100319475328460017104 100319475328460017104 No Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Ehsan Djalali mjalali87@yahoo.com 100319475328460017105 100319475328460017105 No Department of Veterinary, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Mahmoud Djalali mjalali87@yahoo.com 100319475328460017106 100319475328460017106 Yes Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.