RESUMO
OBJECTIVETo investigate protective effect of paeonol (Pae) on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)injured by hyperlipidemic serum and explore its possible mechanism.METHODS The injury model was induced by 20％ hyperlipidemic serum incubating HUVECs for 24 h.Pae 124,247 and 495.μmol· L-1 were given followed by administration of hyperlipidemic serum for 24 h.The morphological changes were observed under inverted microscope,cell survival rate was evaluated by MTT method,the nitric oxide (NO) content was measured by nitric acid reductase method and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA expression was determined by RT-PCR.RESULTSCompared with normal contorl group,most cells in model group split and exfoliated.However,the morphology was tending to normal level after intervention with Pae.Pae significantly improved cell viability(P ＜0.01).Compared with model group,the survival rate increased from (53.0 ±10.1 ) ％ to ( 68.4 ± 9.1 ) ％,( 84.5 ± 6.7 ) ％ and (98.1 ± 7.5 ) ％,respectively.The NO content and eNOS mRNA expression both increased greatly in Pae groups(P ＜ 0.01 ).Compared with model group,content of NO increased from 54 ± 4 to 79 ± 6,115 ± 5 and ( 136 ± 6) μmol · L- 1,respectively.The expression level of eNOSmRNA improved from 0.215 ± 0.060 to 0.451 ± 0.045,0.563 ± 0.013,0.704 ± 0.068,respectively.CONCLUSIONPae exerts protective effect on HUVECs injured by hyperlipidemic serum by increasing eNOS mRNA expression,which might therefore improve the content of NO.