ABSTRACT
[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the protective effect of naringin ( Nar) on the injury of human umbilical vein endothelial cells ( HUVECs) induced by 33 mmol/L high glucose ( HG) and to explore its possible mechanisms.METH-ODS:The injury model was established by treating HUVECs with HG medium for the indicated time (6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h) , and then the levels of NO, eNOS and p-eNOS were detected, respectively.The effects of Nar on high glucose-in-duced endothelial cell injury were observed.HUVECs were treated with Nar at concentrations of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/L for 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h.The levels of NO in the supernatants were measured.The effects of Nar on HG-injured HUVECs were explored by treating the cells with 10 μmol/L of LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, or 0.5 μmol/L of AKT inhibitorⅣ, an AKT inhibitor, and then the levels of NO, PI3K, AKT, eNOS and their phosphorylated proteins were determined by Western blot.RESULTS:Nar at concentration of 50 mg/L significantly attenuated the injury of endothelial cells induced by high glucose ( P<0.01) , and the protective effects of Nar were abolished by pretreating with the inhibitor of PI3K or AKT (P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Nar protects endothelial cells against the injury induced by high glucose through PI3K/AKT/eNOS pathway.