Psoralen alleviates high glucose-induced HK-2 cell injury by inhibition of Smad 2 signaling via upregulation of microRNA 874

Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN) causes the vast proportion of excess mortality for patients with diabetes. Novel therapeutic approaches slowing down its incidence is still lacking. Psoralen is the major active ingredient of Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (PCL), which was used to treat a number of diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether psoralen could alleviate DN using in vitro model. Methods Cell viability assay and...