ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate whether Scutellarin ( Seu ) could alleviate LPS + ATP induced inflammation and pvrolysis and the underlying mechanisms.Meth¬ods Primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVCEs) were pretreated with different concentra¬tions of Scu for 1 h, 2.5 mg • L 1 LPS treatment for 5.5 h, and then 2.5 mmol • L 1 ATP was activated for 0.5 h.The damage rate and activity of endothelial cells were detected by MTT method and determination of LDH content in cell supernatant.ELISA was used to detect the contents of IL-ip,lL-18 and HMGB-1 in su-pernatant.The expression levels of inflammation and pyroptosis related proteins including NLRP3 , ASC , pro- caspase-1 , caspase-1 p20 and GSDMD-NT were detec¬ted by WB method.The expression of pro-caspase-1 , caspase-1 p20 and GSDMD-NT protein and the contents of IL-ip,IL-18 and HMGB-1 in supernatant were de¬tected by Scu and pan caspase receptor inhibitor ( Z-YVAD-FMK).Results Compared with LPS + ATP group, Scu concentration-dependently improved ATP- induced cytotoxic damage, increased cellular activity, reduced the release of 1L-1(3, IL-18, HMGB-1 , down- regulated NLRP3, ASC, pro-caspase-1 , GSDMD-NT protein level to inhibit the activation of pro-caspase-1 , and the effect was comparable to Z-YVAD-FMK.The inhibitory effect of Scu on pro-caspase-1 activation was not significantly different from that of Scu/Z-YVAD- FMK combined group, but significantly inhibited the production of pro-caspase-1.Conclusions Scutellarin can reduce the formation of NLRP3 inflammasome com¬positions and inhibit pro-caspase-1 activation to im¬prove LPS + ATP induced endothelial cell inflammation injury and pyrolysis, which provides a new basis for the clinical prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.