Xiao et al. recently showed that the in vitro and in vivo treatment of diabetic models with epiberberine (an alkaloid isolated from Coptidis rhizoma) resulted in an improvement in diabetic nephropathy due to its effects in reducing angiotensinogen, TGFβ1, and SMAD family member (Smad)2 expression [90]. Here, TGFB1 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.