Atorvastatin Decreased Toll-Like Receptor 4 Expression and Downstream Signals in Human Endothelial Cells / 中华高血压杂志

ABSTRACT

Background The impact of statins on inflammation are independent of cholesterol-lowering effect.Recent studies showed that Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4),a mediator of innate immune responses,is involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.Objective To investigate the effects of atorvastatin on LPS-induced TLR4 expression and downstream signals and to explore the molecular mechanisms of anti-inflammation by statins.Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC)were pretreated with atorvastatin(1 or 10 ?mol/L)or NF-?B inhibitor CAPE for 30 min,then incubated by purified LPS for 24 hours.TLR4,ICAM-1 and E-selectin mRNA were measured by RT-PCR;the percentage of TLR4 positive cells were detected by flow cytometry.The activation of NF-?B(p65)were detected by Western blot.Results Atorvastatin(1-10 ?mol/L)prevented LPS-induced increases in TLR4,ICAM-1 and E-selectin expression [TLR4 mRNA(1.24?0.21)vs LPS(1.82?0.27),P