HMOX1 and liver dysplastic nodule: Another study found that the downregulation in the renal expressions of HO-1, Nrf2, IKBα, and BCL2 and the upregulation of NF-kB and Bax in STZ-induced diabetic rats induced DN, which is similar to the results of the present study (Figure 3) (Raish et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2018; Jia et al., 2019).