SIRT1 and diabetic kidney disease: Puerarin activates autophagy to promote podocyte functional protein expression under ER stress in DKD (130); acts as a SIRT1-agonist, ameliorating podocyte injury, and proteinuria by activating SIRT1 (40); and promotes heme oxygenase 1 and SIRT1 expression and decreases liver kinase B1 acetylation, thereby activating autophagy to protect podocytes (131).