ABSTRACT
Objective To examine the effect of berberine on tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)-induced VEGF expression and the possible mechanism.Methods There were two sessions in this study.In the first session,HepG2 cells were treated with 10 ng/mL TNF-αfor 0,12,24 and 48 h,respectively.In the second session,HepG2 cells were pre-incubated with 0,10,25 and 50μmol/L berberine for 24 h,respectively,and then treated with 10 ng/mL TNF-αfor 24 h.The effect of berberine on the prolif-eration of HepG2 cells was assayed by MTT.The level of VEGF mRNA was detected by real-time PCR,and the expression lev-els of VEGF,IκBαand NF-κB p65 proteins by Western blot.The activity of NF-κB was measured by ELISA.Results Berberine could dose-dependently inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells.TNF-αcould increase the mRNA and protein expression levels of VEGF in HepG2 cells in a time-dependent manner.Berberine could significantly dose-dependently down-regulate the TNF-α-in-duced VEGF expression at mRNA and protein levels.TNF-αsignificantly decreased the expression of IκBαand increased the ex-pression of NF-κB p65 and the activity of NF-κB in a time-dependent manner,which could be dose-dependently abrogated by pretreatment with berberine.Conclusion Berberine inhibits TNF-α-induced VEGF expression via NF-κB signaling pathway.