Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the major cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD)-caused end-stage renal failure (ESRF) and leads to high mortality. At the moment, DKD treatment focuses primarily on controlling hyperglycemia, proteinuria, and hypertension, but this is insufficient for delaying the progression of DKD. Also, there will be rising limitations in the use of drugs with the decline of renal function until it turns into ESRF.

The emergence of Chinese herbal medicines and various Chinese patent medicines as adjuvant drugs can effectively alleviate the side effects of drugs and slow the progression of kidney function.

As a kind of wild-used precious Chinese herb, Cordyceps sinensis extracts have effects of nephroprotection, hepatoprotection, neuroprotection, and protection against ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury, as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, Cordyceps sinensis can tonify the lung and the kidney.

The researchers compiled the literature and mainly described the mechanisms of Cordyceps sinensis and its extracts for the treatment of DKD (as shown below). The clinical applications and efficacy of Chinese herbal medicines from Cordyceps sinensis in the treatment of DKD were also summarized. All the discussions provide new insights into the clinical application of Cordyceps sinensis in the treatment of DKD.

Liu, W., Gao, Y., Zhou, Y., Yu, F., Li, X., & Zhang, N. (2022). Mechanism of Cordyceps sinensis and its Extracts in the Treatment of Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Review. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 1793. [Link]