Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their receptor (RAGE) have a role in diabetic nephropathy. We have recently found that linagliptin, an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), could inhibit renal damage in type 1 diabetic rats by suppressing the AGE-RAGE axis. However, it remains unclear whether DPP-4 deficiency could also have beneficial effects on experimental diabetic nephropathy. To address the issue, we rendered wild-type F344/NSlc and DPP-4-deficient F344/DuCrl/Crlj rats diabetic by injection of streptozotocin, and then investigated whether DPP-4 deficiency could block the activation of AGE-RAGE axis in the diabetic kidneys and resultantly ameliorate renal injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Compared with control rats at 9 and 11 weeks old, body weight and heart rates were significantly lower, while fasting blood glucose was higher in wild-type and DPP-4-deficient diabetic rats at the same age. There was no significant difference of body weight, fasting blood glucose and lipid parameters between the two diabetic rat strains. AGEs, 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and nitrotyrosine levels in the kidney, renal gene expression of RAGE and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, glomerular area, urinary excretion of 8-OHdG and albumin, and the ratio of renal to body weight were increased in wild-type diabetic rats at 9 and/or 11 weeks old compared with age-matched control rats, all of which except for urinary 8-OHdG levels at 11 weeks old were significantly suppressed in DPP-4-deficient diabetic rats. Our present study suggests that DPP-4 deficiency could exert beneficial actions on type 1 diabetic nephropathy partly by blocking the AGE-RAGE axis. DPP-4 might be a novel therapeutic target for preventing diabetic nephropathy. Sugars, including glucose and fructose, can react nonenzymatically with the amino groups of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids to form reversible Schiff bases, and then Amadori products. 1-3 These early glycation products undergo further complex reactions such as rearrangement, dehydration and condensation to become irreversibly cross-linked, heterogeneous fluorescent derivatives called 'advanced glycation end products (AGEs)'. 1-3 The process of non-enzymatic glycation is also known as Maillard reaction, and formation and accumulation of AGEs in various tissues have progressed at a physiological aging and at an extremely accelerated rate under diabetes. [1][2][3] There is a growing body of evidence that AGEs and their receptor (RAGE) interaction evoke oxidative stress generation and inflammatory and fibrotic reactions, thereby causing progressive alteration in renal architecture and loss of renal function in diabetes. [4][5][6][7][8] Furthermore, RAGEoverexpressing diabetic mice have been shown to exhibit progressive glomerulosclerosis with renal dysfunction, compared with diabetic littermates lacking the RAGE transgene. 9 Diabetic homozygous RAGE null mice displayed diminished albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis and failed to develop significantly increased mesan...