Protection of Z-ligustilide on human umbilical vein endothelial cells and its mechanism / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the effect of Z-ligustilide on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), and to investigate the protection on endothelial cells injured by inflammatory cytokines and its mechanism. Methods: TNF-α (10 ng/mL) was added to in vitro cultured HUVEC to induce the cell injury. After co-incubated with the different concentration (5, 10, and 20 μmol/L) of Z-ligustilide for 24 h, the cell viability in each group was measured by MTT. The levels of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were assayed using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western blotting was used to detect the expression of NF-κB protein of cell in each group. Results: TNF-α could induce the obvious injury of HUVEC compared with the control group (P < 0.05, 0.01), and increase the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in HUVEC (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, Z-ligustilide could dose-dependently reduce the expression of ICAM-1 (P < 0.01) and VCAM-1 (P < 0.05) and obviously decrease the NF-κB expression (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Z-ligustilide could attenuate TNF-α-induced injury in HUVEC via suppressing the activation of NF-κB and inhibiting the excessive expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1.