Effect of Danshen on the SOD content of EPCs injured by Ox-LDL == Compared with the normal group, Ox-LDL reduced the SOD content in the cell supernatant significantly. 10, or 50 g/ml, respectively) for 24 h. The results showed that Danshen treatments can prevent the detrimental effects of Ox-LDL on EPC cellular functions measured by proliferation capacity (0.240.08, 0.370.11, 0.300.04 vs. 0.130.02,P<0.05,P<0.01, andP<0.01, respectively), and adhesion ability (63.0011.60, 70.0010.80, 85.5011.41 vs. 40.506.85, allP<0.01). Compared to the group treated with Ox-LDL alone, Danshen treatment significantly decreased the lipid peroxidation end product malondialdehyde (MDA) [(4.340.54), (3.980.47), (3.460.31) vs. (5.570.64) nmol/ml, allP<0.01], increased the production of superoxide dismutase (SOD) [(29.740.71), (31.090.83), (30.410.65) vs. (14.763.99) U/ml, allP<0.01], and lowered the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) [(24.627.69), (27.043.14), (33.3818.86) vs. (230.6733.53) pg/ml, allP<0.01] and tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) [(41.726.10), (17.026.82), (3.732.26) vs. (228.7141.53) pg/ml, allP<0.01] in Ox-LDL Ilorasertib treated EPCs. These results suggest that Danshen may exert a protective effect through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory features. Keywords:Danshen, Endothelial Ilorasertib progenitor cells, Oxidized low-density lipoprotein, Hypercholesterolemia == 1. Introduction == Myocardial ischemia Ilorasertib accounts for an increasing mortality and morbidity within the societies living developed and modern lifestyles. Atherosclerotic plaque formation in Mouse monoclonal to FYN the coronary artery is the pathological basis of the disease. Among other etiological factors such as hypertension, aging, and smoking, hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) is known to cause endothelial dysfunction via reactive oxygen species (Harrison,1997; Galle et al.,2000). More and more evidences indicate that replenishment of normal functional endothelial cells by endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is very crucial for repairing arterial walls, and therefore for the recovery of coronary artery function (Asahara et al.,1997; Rauscher et al.,2003; Xu et al.,2003). It has been demonstrated that EPCs of peripheral blood in patients with hypercholesterolemia were decreased (Chen et al.,2004), and their functions such as adhesion, migration, and Ilorasertib proliferation were impaired (Zhu et al.,2006; Pirro et al.,2008). Danshen, a traditional medicine, is widely used in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases (Du et al.,2000; Jiang et al.,2005; Zhou et al.,2005; Fish et al.,2006). For the past few years, the pharmacological research of Danshen has made progress. It has been shown that Danshen has pharmacological effects such as anti-atherosclerosis, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative damage (Liu H.B. et al.,2002; Liu C.L. et al.,2007; Baek et al.,2009). A series of studies have shown that Danshen has a protective effect against the damage of endothelial cells caused by a variety of factors (Xu et al.,2001; Wu and Wang,2002; Zhang et al.,2004). Our preliminary studies found that Danshen at low concentrations was able to evidently increase the number of EPCs and enhance their adhesion and colony-forming abilities (Ji et al.,2006). In this study, we attempt to inspect the therapeutic effects of Danshen and explore its underlying mechanism. == 2. Patients and methods == == 2.1. Clinical study == We Ilorasertib selected 12 pairs (24) of hypercholesteremia inpatients who were matched in age, sex, and disease conditions. Patients with recent surgical trauma, ulcers, retinal disease, tumors, acute myocardial infarction, and angina pectoris were excluded. Each of the pairs was randomly allocated into a control group or therapeutic group. The subjects in the control group received conventional therapy (atorvastatin calcium tablets, 10 mg, qn) and the therapeutic group received Danshen pills (270 mg, tid) and conventional therapy. After two weeks of treatments, we took 20 ml samples of peripheral blood from each patient. The EPCs were cultured and the changes in colony-forming, proliferative, adhesive, and migratory capacities were analyzed. == 2.2. In-vitro experiments == To further explore the underlying mechanism of Danshen, we also took 20 ml of peripheral blood from six healthy volunteers to culture EPCs. After culturing for 7.