Pumpkin Seed Oil Composition Analysis and Research on the Prevention Effects of Vascular Disease

Abstract

Pumpkin seed oil (PSO) was investigated for parasite elimination activity and therapy of disorders of the prostate gland and the urinary bladder. However, analysis of components and efficacies of PSO were not enough. In this study, we confirmed the composition and identified that may be a help to vessels. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric (GC‐MS) analysis system was used for PSO composition assay. Cytotoxicity and cell proliferation were confirmed by Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK‐8) assay. Nitric oxide (NO) production was measured with Griess reagent, and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)‐1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)‐1 mRNA expression were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). As result, PSO revealed the presence of several components like linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid. The cytotoxic effect of PSO was not observed and PSO increased nitric oxide production on human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC). Additionally, TNF‐α induced cell proliferation and ICAM‐1 of HUVEC were inhibited by PSO treatment, but VCAM‐1 was not significantly decreased. Taken together, these results show that PSO is worthy of study as candidate food material for improvement of vascular disease.