Genistein attenuates monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats by up-regulating heme oxygenase-1 expression / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of genistein on the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) induced by monocrotaline (MCT).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=15), namely the control group, model group, low-dose (20 µg/kg) genistein group and high-dose (80 µg/kg) genistein group. The hemodynamic parameters were measured and the remodeling of pulmonary small arteries was observed by electron microscope (EM). The expression of HO-1 in the lung tissues were detected by Western blotting.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the model group, genistein treatment significantly reduced the elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure, improved the right ventricular hypertrophy index, and increased the expression of HO-1 in a dose-dependent manner.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Genistein attentuates pulmonary arterial hypertension in MCT-treated rats possibly by up-regulation of HO-1 in the lung tissues.</p>