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Eclipta prostrata (EP) is often prescribed in combination with glucocorticoid to treat glomerular nephritis,nephrotic syndrome,and IgA nephropathy in clinical practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Previous studies from our laboratory revealed that co-administration of EP significantly increased the plasma concentration of prednisolone,while decreased the level of co-treated prednisone in rats.However,the underlying mechanism remains unclear.11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) belongs to the family of oxidoreductases that catalyze the inter-conversion of prednisone to active prednisolone.Therefore,the current study aimed to investigate the effects of EP on the activity and expression of 11β-HSD in rat liver and kidney.The results showed that orally administration of EP significantly increased the activity of 11β-HSD I in the liver and 11β-HSD II in the kidney by employing the microsomal incubation system.Moreover,gene and protein expression of 11β-HSD I and 11β-HSD II were also increased in rat liver and kidney,respectively.These results suggest that the effects of EP on 11β-HSD may attribute to the mechanism that administration of EP improves the efficacy and reduce adverse drug reactions of glucocorticoid in patients undergoing combinational therapy.