Abstract
Puerarin, a major isoflavonoid compound isolated from the Chinese herb Kudzu roots, has been a long history and widely used for treatment of cerebral and cardiovascular diseases in China and other Asian countries, including coronary artery disease, heart failure and myocardial infarction. However, the underlying mechanisms by which puerarin inhibits vascular atherogenic diseases are largely unknown. The activated macrophages release of inflammatory cytokines and uptake of oxLDL forming foam cells are critical for the development of atherosclerotic plaque. The present study investigated whether puerarin inhibited atherogenic lipid oxLDL-mediated macrophage activation and foam cell formation in human THP1 macrophage. The Cells were cultured and differentiated into macrophages by pre-incubation with 100 ng/ml PMA. Treatment with oxLDL (50 μg/ml) significantly increased the mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α(TNFα, 160%) and interleukin (IL)1β(13 fold) accompanied by upregulation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4, 165%) and the ratio of phospho-I κ Bα/I κ Bα in THP1 macrophage. Puerarin dose-dependently prevented an increase in oxLDL-induced proinflammatory gene expression with downregulation of TLR4 and the ratio of phospho-I κ Bα/I κ Bα. Furthermore, puerarin prevented oxLDL-mediated lipid deposition and foam cell formation associated with downregulation of scavenger receptor CD36. Flow cytometry analysis showed that puerarin reduced the number of early apoptotic cells of macrophages induced by oxLDL. Our results show that puerarin has anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects in vitro, the underling mechanisms may involve the inhibition of TLR4/NF κ B pathway and downregulation of CD36 expression. The results from the present study provide scientific evidence and may expand our armamentarium to use puerarin for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and atherosclerotic diseases.
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