RESUMEN
Aim To study the inhibitory effects of ex-tractive pericarpium trichosanthes ( EPT) on high glu-cose-induced apoptosis in human umbilical vein endo-thelial cells ( HUVECs ) and its underlining mecha-nisms. Methods HUVECs were cultured. Effects of EPT at different concentrations on the high-glucose-in-duced apoptosis in HUVECs were observed. The cell viability of HUVECs was determined by MTT colori-metric method. Cell apoptosis was identified by Ho-echst staining. The intracellular activity of Caspase-3 was detected with colorimetry. Protein expression and p65 nuclear translocation of NF-κB were detected by Western blot and immunofluorescence staining. Re-sults Treated with 30 mmol · L-1 glucose for 48 hours had a significantly decrease on cell viability com-pared with control, and the apoptotic rate and Caspase-3 activity were increased markedly, the protein expres-sion of NF-κB was upregulated and p65 nuclear trans-location in HUVECs increased; Pre-incubation with EPT(12. 5,25,50 mg·L-1 ) for 1 hour enhanced the cell viability, and decreased the apoptotic rate and Caspase-3 activity and downregulated the expression of NF-κB in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, EPT could inhibit p65 translocation. Conclusion EPT can protect HUVECs against the apoptosis induced by high glucose in vitro,and its mechanism may be related with downregulation of NF-κB expression and inhibition of the intracellular activity of Caspase-3 .