Jin et al. showed in 2020 that diosgenin had renoprotective properties on aristolochic acid I (AA-I) nephropathy (AAN) via intragastric treatment with 30 mg/kg/d diosgenin two hours before exposure to 10 mg/kg/d AA-I for four consecutive weeks by inhibiting the AIF expression and the cleaved form of Caspase-3, thereby alleviating the apoptosis triggered by AA-I, by increasing the expression of mitochondrial-dynamic-related proteins including DRP1 and MFN2. This evidence concerns the gene MFN2 and Balkan nephropathy.