Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of Shenkang injection on renal function and serum levels of Tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1), interleukin-6(IL-6) in patients with diabetic nephropathy. 
Methods A total of 160 patients with diabetic nephropathy were randomly divided into control group(n=80) and observation group(n=80). The control group was treated with valsartan 80 mg once a day, and the observation group was treated with Shenkang injection once a day on the basis of the control group, both groups were treated for 4 weeks. The 24-hour urinary protein quantification(UTP), serum creatinine(SCr), cystatin C(Cystatin C), plasma potassium, TNF-α, MCP-1 and IL-6 levels were compared between two groups before and after treatment. 
Results After treatment, the levels of UTP, SCr, Cystatin C and serum TNF-α, MCP-1 and IL-6 in two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment, and all indexes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group（P＜0.05）. There was no significant difference in plasma potassium before and after treatment(P＞0.05). 
Conclusion Shenkang injection can effectively reduce the levels of proteinuria, serum creatinine and cystatin C in patients with diabetic nephropathy, and its mechanism may be through reducing the levels of serum TNF-α, MCP-1 and IL-6, inhibiting inflammatory reaction and playing a protective role in kidney.

Key words: diabetic nephropathies, shenkang injection, proteinuria, serum creatinine