Effects of Mycophenolic Acid on the Proliferation and Endothelin-1 and Interleukin-6 Secretion of Rat Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of mycophenolic acid (MPA) on the proliferation of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and on the secretion of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) by these cells. Methods: Rat PMVECs were treated with five different final concentrations of MPA (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM). The fetal bovine serum-induced proliferation of the PMVECs was detected using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The levels of ET-1 and IL-6 secretion were assessed by radioimmunoassays. Results: At the 24 h time point, the optical density (OD) values at 450 nm for the five groups showed that there were no significant differences between the groups treated with 0 and 0.1 μM MPA (P=0.388) or between the groups treated with 10 and 100 μM MPA (P=0.292), but the OD values were significantly different between all other pairs of groups (P<0.001). At the 48 h time point, the OD values at 450 nm for the five groups showed that there was no significant difference between the groups treated with 0 and 0.1 μM MPA (P=0.094), but the OD values were significantly different between all the other groups (P<0.001). At the 72 h time point, the OD values at 450 nm for the five groups showed that there was no significant difference between the groups treated with the final concentrations of 0 and 0.1 μM MPA (P=0.931), but the OD values were significantly different between all other pairs of groups (10 μM MPA vs 100 μM MPA: P=0.037; 0 μM MPA vs 1 μM MPA: P=0.006; 1 μM MPA vs 10 μM MPA: P=0.005; all other comparisons: P<0.001). There were no significant differences in ET-1 concentration between the groups treated with 0 and 0.1 μM MPA (P=0.156) or the groups treated with 10 and 100 μM MPA (P=0.262), but there were significant differences between all other pairs of groups (P<0.001). By contrast, there were no significant differences in IL-6 concentrations between any pair of groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: MPA inhibits fetal bovine serum-induced rat PMVEC proliferation and ET-1 secretion in a dose-dependent manner.