[Effects of Chinese herbal medicine Guanxinkang on expression of PPARγ-LXRα-ABCA1 pathway in ApoE-knockout mice with atherosclerosis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Guanxinkang (GXK) decoction, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), liver X receptor α (LXRα) and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-knockout mice with atherosclerosis. METHODS: Fourteen 6-week-old C57BL/6 J mice were used as normal control group. Seventy 6-week-old ApoE-knockout mice receiving a high-cholesterol diet to induce atherosclerosis were randomly divided into untreated group, simvastatin group and low-dose (concentration of crude drugs at 0.864 g/mL), medium-dose (crude drugs at 1.728 g/mL) and high-dose (crude drugs at 3.456 g/mL) GXK groups. After treated with the drugs for eight weeks continuously, the livers and aortas of mice were separated. The expressions of PPARγ, LXRα and ABCA1 were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting respectively. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control group, mRNAs and proteins of PPARγ, LXRα and ABCA1 over-expressed in the untreated group (P<0.05). After the treatment, GXK decoction and simvastatin decreased the expressions of PPARγ, LXRα and ABCA1 (P<0.05). High-dose GXK decoction had more marked effects than low- and medium-dose GXK and simvastatin. CONCLUSION: The PPARγ-LXRα-ABCA1 pathway is involved in lipid regulation and inflammation activities. Over-expression of the genes has complicated effects on atherosclerosis in ApoE-knockout mice with high-cholesterol diet. GXK decoction has anti-inflammatory and anti-matrix metalloproteinase activities by regulating PPARγ, LXRα and ABCA1 interactions in the ApoE-knockout mice.