Research Progress on the Pharmacological Mechanism of Effective Components of Astragalus in Treating Kidney Diseases

Kidney disease, characterized by damage to kidney structure and function, is regarded as a major public health issue that endangers human health worldwide. Western medicine has certain limitations in the treatment of kidney diseases, whereas traditional Chinese medicine possesses unique advantages in treating kidney diseases due to its complex components acting on multiple targets and signaling pathways. Studies have found that polysaccharides, saponins, and flavonoids in the Chinese herbal medicine Astragalus membranaceus mainly target diabetic nephropathy, chronic renal failure, renal cancer, acute kidney injury, uric acid nephropathy, nephrotic syndrome, kidney stones, etc. Their mechanisms of action are related to inhibiting oxidative stress response, suppressing apoptosis, regulating autophagy, anti-renal fibrosis, inhibiting inflammatory response, improving cell pyroptosis, enhancing immunity, regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress, improving mitochondrial dysfunction, enhancing renal endothelial cell function, inhibiting mesangial cell proliferation, suppressing renal cancer cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and colony formation, inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition of renal cancer cells, promoting apoptosis of renal cancer cells, suppressing macrophage inflammatory chemotaxis, reducing serum uric acid levels, regulating intestinal flora, improving calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorders, and regulating renal water and salt metabolism. Furthermore, research on the effective components of Astragalus membranaceus mainly focuses on Astragalus polysaccharides, astragaloside IV, calycosin, quercetin, etc., and is primarily conducted through animal or cell experiments. The relationship between multiple targets upstream and downstream of various signaling pathways, as well as the synergistic mechanisms between signaling pathways and active components, still require further investigation. This article aims to summarize the research progress on the pharmacological mechanisms of Astragalus membranaceus effective components in the treatment of kidney diseases both in vitro and in vivo, providing theoretical guidance for their further development and clinical application.