AKT1 and diabetic kidney disease: Our previous studies proved that following drug-intervention, HKC can safely and efficiently alleviate the early pathological changes in the glomeruli in the kidneys by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling activity, both in a rat model of DKD induced by unilateral nephrectomy combined with the intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ), and in murine mesangial cells under HG conditions (Wu et al., 2018).