Polysaccharides from astragali radix restore chemical-induced blood vessel loss in zebrafish

Vascular Cell

Simon Ming Yuen Lee³  You-Hua Wang²  Maggie Pui ManHoi³  Shang Li³  Gail B Mahady¹  Guang Hu³ 

[1] Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA;Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China;Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenue Padre Tomás Pereira S.J., Taipa, Macao SAR, China

关键词: Zebrafish;    Ultrafiltration;    Polysaccharide;    Astragali Radix;    Angiogenesis;   

Others  :  817435
DOI  :  10.1186/2045-824X-4-2

 received in 2011-12-09, accepted in 2012-02-23,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Astragali Radix has been used widely for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and to enhance endurance and stamina in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for over 2000 years. The polysaccharide constituents of Astragali Radix (ARP) are considered as one of the major constituents contributing to the multiple pharmacological effects of this medicinal plant. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the vascular regenerative activities of ARPs in a chemically-induced blood vessel loss model in zebrafish.

Methods

Blood vessel loss was induced in both Tg(fli-1a:EGFP)y1 and Tg(fli-1a:nEGFP)y7 embryos by administration of 300 nM VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor II (VRI) for 3 h at 24 hpf (hour post-fertilization). Then, the blood vessel damaged zebrafish were treated with ARPs for 21 h and 45 h after VRI withdrawal. Morphological changes in intersegmental vessels (ISVs) of zebrafish larvae were observed under the fluorescence microscope and measured quantitatively. The rescue effect of ARPs in the zebrafish models was validated by measuring the relative mRNA expressions of Kdrl, Kdr and Flt-1 using real-time PCR.

Results

Two polysaccharide fractions, P4 (50000 D < molecular weight & diameter < 0.1 μm) and P5 (molecular diameter > 0.1 μm), isolated from Astragali Radix by ultrafiltration, produced a significant and dose-dependent recovery in VRI-induced blood vessel loss in zebrafish. Furthermore, the down-regulation of Flk-1 and Flt-1 mRNA expression induced by VRI was reversed by treatment with P4.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrates that P4 isolated from Astragali Radix reduces VRI-induced blood vessel loss in zebrafish. These findings support the hypothesis that polysaccharides are one of the active constituents in Astragali Radix, contributing to its beneficial effect on treatment of diseases associated with a deficiency in angiogenesis.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Hu et al; BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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