The efficacy of Cornus in reducing glomeruli nodular sclerosis and kidney interstitial edema in STZ-induced DKD rats, along with its ability to decrease TGF-β and enhance abundance of gut lactobacilli to elevate SCFA content, suggests that it can be used to treat DKD by restoring gut microbiota's abundance, increasing SCFA levels, and diminishing inflammatory infiltration [203]. Here, TGFB1 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.