RESUMO
AIM:To investigate the effect of rosiglitazone on the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP1), vascular endothelial growth factor-A ( VEGF-A ) and cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2 ) in human peritoneal microvascular endothelial cells.METHODS: Cultured peritoneal microvascular endothelial cells were divided into 4 groups.The morphological changes of the cells were observed under inverted microscope .The protein expression of AQP1, VEGF-A and COX-2 in hu-man peritoneal microvascular endothelial cells was determined by Western blotting .The mRNA expression of AQP1, VEGF-A and COX-2 in the cells was measured by real-time PCR.RESULTS:Rosiglitazone stimulated the proliferation of the cells.Rosiglitazone up-regulated the expression of AQP1, and down-regulated the expression of VEGF-2 and COX-2 at mRNA and protein levels in the cells .The PPAR-γantagonist GW9662 partly inhibited the up-regulation of AQP1 expres-sion by rosiglitazone (P0.05).CON-CLUSION:Rosiglitazone up-regulates the expression of AQP 1 and down-regulates the expression of VEGF-A and COX-2 in human peritoneal microvascular endothelial cells , thus promoting water transportation and attenuating peritoneal fibrosis during peritoneal dialysis .