Abstract

BackgroundIt is widely accepted the key role of endothelium in the onset of many chronic and acute vascular and cardiovascular diseases.In the last decade, traditional compounds utilized in “folk medicine” were considered with increasing interest to discover new bioactive molecules potentially effective in a wide range of diseases including cardiovascular ones. Since ancient times different parts of the Cucumis sativus L. plant were utilized in Ayurvedic medicine, among these, fruits were traditionally used to alleviate skin problem such as sunburn irritation and inflammation. The main purpose of the present research was, in a well-defined in vitro model of endothelial cells, to investigate whether a water/ethanol extract of Cucumis sativus L. (CSE) fruit can attenuate the damaging effect of pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS).MethodsCell viability, gene expression of endothelial cell markers, cytokines secretion and in vitro angiogenesis assay were performed on porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells exposed to increasing doses (0.02; 02; 2 mg/ml) of CSE in the presence of pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS 10 μg/ml).ResultsCSE reduced LPS-induced cytotoxicity and decreased the cellular detachment, restoring the expression of tight junction ZO-1. The increase of TLR4 expression induced by LPS was counterbalanced by the presence of CSE, while the protective gene Hemeoxygenase (HO)-1 was increased. Cucumis sativus L. inhibited the early robust secretion of inflammatory IL-8 and GM-CSFs, furthermore inhibition of inflammatory IL-6 and IL-1α occurred late at 7 and 24 h respectively. On the contrary, the secretion of anti-inflammatory IL-10, together with IL-18 and IFN-γ was increased. Moreover, the in vitro angiogenesis induced by inflammatory LPS was prevented by the presence of Cucunis sativus L. extract, at any doses tested.ConclusionsOur results have clearly demonstrated that Cucumis sativus L. extract has attenuated lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response in endothelial cells.

Highlights

  • It is widely accepted the key role of endothelium in the onset of many chronic and acute vascular and cardiovascular diseases

  • Cucumis sativus L extract (CSE) prevented LPS-induced cell death and Zona occludens-1 (ZO-1) reduction The protective effect of Cucumis sativus L. extract on LPS-induced toxicity was evaluated in porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells (pAECs)

  • Effect of CSE on TLR-4 and Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) expression We studied the effect of CSE on the expression of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) that is the main receptor for LPS recognition

Read more

Summary

Introduction

It is widely accepted the key role of endothelium in the onset of many chronic and acute vascular and cardiovascular diseases. In full accordance with the principle of “Replacement”, one of the commonly-accepted 3Rs rules (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) for more ethical use of animals in experimental testing, primary culture of porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells (pAECs) were successfully used in many different in vitro models, preceding the in vivo, confirming swine as a relevant animal model for translational medicine [12,13,14,15,16,17]. Traditional compounds utilized in “folk medicine” have been considered with increasing interest to discover new bioactive molecules potentially effective in a wide range of diseases including cardiovascular ones. To support the traditional medicine use of these compounds, scientific informations regarding the phytochemical or biological activity are needed. [18, 19]

Objectives
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call