Pinellia ternata attenuates carotid artery intimal hyperplasia and increases endothelial progenitor cell activity via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in wire-injured rats.

ABSTRACT: Context: Clinically, Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit. (Araceae) (PT) has been widely used in the treatment of atherosclerosis and hyperlipidaemia, but the underlying mechanisms are still not clearly understood.

Objective: This research was conducted to confirm the mechanism by which PT affects carotid artery intimal hyperplasia.

Materials and methods: An intestinal hyperplasia Sprague-Dawley rat model was established by carotid artery injury. The rats were randomly divided into five groups (n?=?8): sham, model, PT (with daily intragastric administration of 10?g/mL/kg PT tubers water extract), PT+LY294002 (with intraperitoneal injection of 50?mg/kg LY294002?+?10?g/mL/kg PT) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) (with injection of 5?×?10⁵/cells), and treated for 4 or 8 weeks.

Results: HE staining showed that PT attenuated intimal hyperplasia. RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry showed that PT increased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and eNOS in the atherosclerotic carotid artery. PT increased the Dil-acLDL⁺/FITC-UEA-1⁺ population (from 0.41?±?0.085% to 0.60?±?0.092%) in the blood, decreased TCHO, TG, LDL-C, IL-6 and TNF-? levels, and increased HDL-C and IL-10 levels in the blood. However, these changes were reversed by the PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor LY294002.

Discussion and conclusions: PT can be developed as an atherosclerosis and carotid intimal hyperplasia treatment drug. Therefore, further study will focus on the effects of PT on intimal hyperplasia in wire-injured atherosclerosis patients and explore in depth some other relevant molecular mechanisms.

SUBMITTER: Lu HK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7717851 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature