ABSTRACT
Araliaceae plant Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma and Panacix Quinquefolii Radix are famous Chinese herbal medicines, with anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effect, as well as obvious effect on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. Studies have found that the metabolism and transport of cholesterol may affect the function of the cardiovascular system. Cholesterol can be divided into high-density cholesterol and low-density cholesterol. Cholesterol has many physiological regulating effect. High-density cholesterol has a protective effect on cardiovascular disease. When the cholesterol metabolism in the body is disordered, low-density cholesterol is increased, and will cause the increase in the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. By consulting relevant Chinese and foreign documents and materials, we found that traditional Chinese medicine Araliaceae has a significant regulatory effect on cholesterol. It can directly regulate the cholesterol level of experimental hyperlipidemia rats, reduce total cholesterol(TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) in rats, and partially increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) level in rats. It can inhibit cholesterol synthesis by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis-regulating genes liver X receptor-α(LXR-α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ(PPARγ), cytochrome P450 7A1(CYP7A1); and up-regulate cholesterol metabolism genes peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α(PPARα), PPARγ, CYP8B1, CYP7A1, LXR) and body ATP-binding cassette transporter, ABC transporter(ABCA1, ABCG5/8)to promote cholesterol metabolism in the body. Araliaceae plants may play a neuroprotective role by regulating cholesterol metabolism and transport in the brain, and improve neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on the effect of Araliaceae plants on the metabolism and transport of cholesterol in brain will become a hot research topic in the future. The above review is expected to provide a reference for further research on the lipid-lowering effect and mechanism of Araliaceae plants.
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the protective effect of germacrone on human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) damaged by H2O2-induced oxidative stress and its possible mechanisms. The oxidative damage model was established by using 500 μmol•L⁻¹ H2O2 to treat HUVECs for 3 hours, and then protected with different concentrations of germacrone for 24 hours. The effect of germacrone on cell viability of HUVECs damaged by H2O2 was detected by MTT. The contents of PGI2, TXB2, ET-1, t-PA, PAI-1, TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA. The content of NO was detected by using nitrate reductase method. Colorimetry was used to detect NOS and GSH-Px. The contents of MDA, SOD and LDH were detected by TBA, WST-1 and microplate respectively. Apoptosis was observed by Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining. The mRNA expressions of Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in cells were detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the cell damage rate was 52% after treated with 500 μmol•L⁻¹ H2O2 for 3 hours. The cell activity was increasing with the rise of germacrone concentration within the range of 20-200 mol•L⁻¹. Compared with normal group, the contents of PGI2, NO, T-NOS, t-PA, SOD, GSH-Px and Bcl-2 mRNA expressions were lower after damaged with H2O2. The contents of PAI-1, ET-1, IL-6, TNF-α, TXB2, LDH, MDA, Bax mRNA and Caspase-3 mRNA expressions were increased. Compared with model group, the contents of PGI2, NO, T-NOS, t-PA, SOD, GSH-Px and Bcl-2 mRNA expressions were increased after treated with germacrone. The contents of PAI-1, ET-1, IL-6, TNF-α, TXB2, LDH, MDA, Bax mRNA and Caspase-3 mRNA expressions were lower after treated with germacrone. According to Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining, compared with normal group, the cell membrane and the nucleus showed strong dense blue fluorescence, and the number of cells significantly decreased in model group. Compared with model group, blue fluorescence intensity decreased in drug group. The above findings demonstrate that germacrone may improve the effect on HUVECs damaged by H2O2-induced oxidative stress by resisting oxidation and inhibiting cell apoptosis.