Research has demonstrated that emodin (20 and 40 mg/kg) reduced proteinuria and attenuated nephrogenic fibrosis in DN rats, and the mechanism of nephroprotective effect was related to the inhibition of apoptosis through the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway and regulation of autophagy-related protein expression, including LC3-II/I, Beclin-1, p-AMPK, p62, and p-mTOR (Liu et al., 2021). This evidence concerns the gene MTOR and liver dysplastic nodule.