Effect of baicalin on human umbilical vein endothelial cell injury induced by lipocalin-2 / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect and the mechanism of baicalin in alleviating human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) injury induced by lipocalin-2. METHODS: Lipocalin-2 at different concentration (0, 5, 10, 20 μmol·L-1) and different time gradient (0, 24, 48 and 72 h) were added in HUVEC, the proliferation and apoptosis of HUVEC, contents of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in HUVEC supernatant, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and the expressions of p-JNK, Bax and Bcl-2 in HUVEC were measured by MTT assay, flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), colorimetry and Western blot, respectively. Different concentration of baicalin (15, 30, 60 mg·L-1) or 10 μmol·L-1 SP600125, the specific inhibitor of JNK pathway, was added into HUVEC to detect the effect of baicalin. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, 10 μmol·L-1 lipocalin-2 could significantly increase the apoptosis, IL-6, MCP-1 contents and LDH activities, p-JNK expression and Bax/Bcl-2 rate but restrain the proliferation in HUVEC (P<0.05). Compared with lipocalin-2 group, 30 mg·L-1 baicalin could significantly restrain the apoptosis, IL-6, MCP-1 contents and LDH activities, p-JNK expression and Bax/Bcl-2 rate but increase the proliferation in HUVEC (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that baicalin could alleviate HUVEC injury induced by lipocalin-2, the protective mechanism is related to the inhibition of JNK pathway.