Antioxidative Effect of Ginseng Saponin on Cardiac Endothelial Cells in Culture / 대한해부학회지

ABSTRACT

The cytotoxic effects of oxygen free radicals and the antioxidative effect of ginseng saponin (SPN) on cardiac endothelial cell cultures derived from 3-day old rats were studied. Reactive oxygen species were generated by hypoxanthine (HX) and xanthine oxidase (XO) mixture to the culture medium. Exposure of cardiac endothelial cells to this oxygen-radical-generating system resulted in significant time-dependent decrease of MTT activity and increase of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. These results correlated well with the morphological examination of randomly selected cultured cardiac endothelial cells, which showed large cytoplasmic vacuoles, disordered organelles, pronounced increase of endoplasmic reticular swelling, and decreased maintenance of membrane integrity. The decrease in cell viability and increase of LDH release induced by the oxygen free radicals in cardiac endothelial cell cultures were blocked during the first two hours by antioxidants such as ginseng saponin (SPN), deferoxamine (DFX), and ginseng saponin/deferoxamine mixture (SPN/DFX). These antioxidative effects were significantly greater in the SPN-treated group than in the other antioxidant-treated groups. Especially, the cells of the SPN-treated group showed well developed cytoskeletons, which enabled them to firmly attach to the culture vessel. In conclusion, these results indicate that ginseng saponin has a significant antioxidative effect on cardiac endothelial cells in culture and plays an important role in stimulating the formation of cytoskeleton and maintaining the integrity of cell membrane.