[Study of Berberine on Attenuating PM2.5-Induced Vascular Endothelial Cells Injury by ERK1/2 Signal Pathway].

Objective: To investigate the effect and mechanism of berberine in attenuating PM2. 5-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells EA. hy926 injury. Methods: The samples of fine particulate matter( PM2. 5) were collected and made into suspension. Different concentrations of PM2. 5( 0,20,200,400 mg / L) were added into EA. hy926 cells for 24 h. The viability of EA. hy926 cells was detected by MTT assay, and apoptosis of EA. hy926 cells was detected by flow cytometry, the expressions of p-ERK1 /2,BAX and BCL-2 in the EA. hy926 cells were measured by Western blot,the contents of IL-6,TNF-α were measured by ELISA, the content of MDA, and the activities of SOD and LDH in the EA. hy926 cells culture supernatant were measured, respectively. Different concentrations of berberine( 10,50,100 µmol / L) and PD98059( 20 µmol / L) was added into the EA. hy926 cells to observe the effect of berberine. Results: Compared with control group,PM2. 5 decreased the viability in a dose dependent manner, and significantly upgraded the protein levels of p-ERK1 /2 and BAX / BCL-2 ratio,PM2. 5 increased the apoptosis of EA. hy926 cells, and increased the contents of IL-6,TNF-α and MDA, increased the activity of LDH, and decreased SOD activity in the EA. hy926 cells( P < 0. 05). Compared with PM2. 5 group, berberine increased the viability of EA. hy926 cells in a dose dependent manner,PM2. 5 significantly downgraded the protein levels of p-ERK1 /2 and BAX / BCL-2 ratio, and decreased the apoptosis of EA. hy926 cells, decreased the contents of IL-6,TNF-α and MDA, and decreased the activity of LDH, and increased SOD activity in the EA. hy926 cells( P < 0. 05). Conclusion: Berberine attenuates PM2. 5-induced EA. hy926 cells injury by inhibiting ERK1 /2 pathway.

Effect of curcumin on inhibiting atherogenesis by down-regulating lipocalin-2 expression in apolipoprotein E knockout mice.

BACKGROUND: Curcumin possesses significant anti-atherosclerosis properties. Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is already known as one of the most promising biomarkers of atherosclerosis. However, research on the effect of curcumin on regulating LCN2 expression in atherogenesis is very limited. The aim of the study was to investigate whether curcumin could alleviate atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice by down-regulating LCN2 expression. METHODS: Fifty apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-/-) mice were fed with a western diet for 12 weeks and randomly divided into five groups: model group (Mod), positive control group (Lov, with 30 mg/kg/d lovastatin), three curcumin groups (CurL, CurM and CurH, with 40, 60 and 80 mg/kg/d curcumin), while 10 C57BL/6J mice were fed with a standard mouse chow diet as a control group (Con). LCN2 in serum and aorta, biomarkers of serum lipid and inflammation were determined and the plaque area of the atherosclerosis lesions was quantified. RESULTS: CurM and CurH group were significantly lower than Mod group in terms of serum LCN2, lipid and inflammatory cytokine levels, plaque area and LCN2 expression in atherosclerotic lesions, similar to lovastatin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that dietary curcumin ameliorates western diet-induced atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice, which is related to LCN2 down-regulation, anti-hyperlipidemia effect as well as the inhibition of inflammation.

[Puerarin attenuates PM2.5-induced vascular endothelial cells injury via ERK1/2 signaling pathway].

To investigate the effect and the mechanism of puerarin in attenuating PM2.5-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (EA.hy926) injury, the samples of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were collected and made into suspension. Different concentrations of PM2.5 (0,20, 200, 400 mg•L⁻¹) were used to contaminate EA.hy926 cells for 24 h. The cells survival rate was detected by MTT assay; cells apoptosis of EA.hy926cells was detected by flow cytometry; the protein levels of p-ERK1/2, Bax and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blot; the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), malonaldehyde (MDA), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured by ELISA. Puerarin at different concentrations (10, 50, 100 µmol•L⁻¹) or a specific inhibitor of ERK1/2 pathway PD98059 (20 µmol•L-1) was added into the EA.hy926 cells to observe the intervention effect and mechanism of puerarin. Compared with the control group, PM2.5 reduced the cells survival rate, up-regulatedp-ERK1/2 protein level and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in a dose dependent manner to promote apoptosis; increased the contents of TNF-α, IL-6 and MDA, the activity of LDH, but decreased SOD activity in the EA.hy926 cells (P<0.05). Compared with PM2.5 group, puerarin increased the cells survival rate, down-regulated p-ERK1/2 protein level and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in a dose dependent manner to inhibit the apoptosis; decreased the contents of TNF-α, IL-6 and MDA, the activity of LDH, but increased SOD activity in the EA.hy926 cells (P<0.05). The results indicated that puerarin could attenuate PM2.5-induced EA.hy926 cells injury via the inhibition of ERK1/2 pathway.

Quasireversible Process of Dopamine on Copper-Nickel Hydroxide Composite/Nitrogen Doped Graphene/Nafion Modified GCE and Its Electrochemical Application.

Cu-Ni(OH)2/N-GR/Nafion/GCE has been prepared by electrodeposition and activation with NaOH. The proposed modified GCE was studied by electrochemical methods. It is found that dopamine shows favorable redox cyclic voltammetric response on the proposed modified GCE with peak separation of 25 mV and large current compared with on single-component modified GCE. The kinetic of electrode process has also been investigated with rate constant of 6.618 × 10(-3) cm/s, which can be deduced to be a quasireversible or near-reversible process. The proposed method has been used for DA detection with linear range of 1.0 × 10(-7) mol/L to 4.6 × 10(-5) mol/L, and the detection limit is 3.3 × 10(-8) mol/L. The proposed method has favorable stability and reproducibility and has also been used to determine DA in simulated samples and DA injections with favorable recoveries of 98.4% to 102.6%.