Herbal composition of Cinnamomum cassia, Pinus densiflora, Curcuma longa and Glycyrrhiza glabra prevents atherosclerosis by upregulating p27 (Kip1) expression

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Joo-Hui Han¹  Won-Kyung Cho²  Jung-Jin Lee²  Jin Yeul Ma²  Ji-Hye Lee² 

[1] Department of Pharmacology, Chungnam National University College of Pharmacy, 305-764, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Korean Medicine (KM) Application Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 701-300, Daegu, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Anti-atherosclerotic activity;    Vascular smooth muscle cell;    Cell cycle;    Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor;    Kiom-18;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-016-1224-8

 received in 2016-01-23, accepted in 2016-07-15,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundKiom-18 is a novel composition of Cinnamomum cassia, Pinus densiflora, Curcuma longa and Glycyrrhiza glabra. Curcuma longa and Glycyrrhiza glabra, which are traditional medicines in Asia, have been reported to demonstrate preventive effects against atherosclerosis; however, they have not yet been developed into functional atherosclerosis treatments. We therefore studied the anti-atherosclerotic effects and possible molecular mechanisms of Kiom-18 using vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).MethodsTo assess the anti-proliferative effect of Kiom-18 in vitro, we performed thymidine incorporation, cell cycle progression, immunoblotting and immunofluorescence assays in VSMCs stimulated by platelet derived-growth factor (PDGF)-BB. In addition, we used LDLr knockout mice to identify the effects of Kiom-18 as a preliminary result in an atherosclerosis animal model.ResultsKiom-18 inhibited platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-stimulated-VSMC proliferation and DNA synthesis. Additionally, Kiom-18 arrested the cell cycle transition of G0/G1 stimulated by PDGF-BB and its cell cycle-related proteins. Correspondingly, the level of p27kip1 expression was upregulated in the presence of the Kiom-18 extract. Moreover, in an atherosclerosis animal model of LDLr knockout mice, Kiom-18 extract showed a preventive effect for the formation of atherosclerotic plaque and suppressed body weight, fat weight, food treatment efficiency, neutrophil count, and triglyceride level.ConclusionsThese results indicate that Kiom-18 exerts anti-atherosclerotic effects by inhibiting VSMC proliferation via G0/G1 arrest, which upregulates p27Kip1 expression.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016