Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the effects of astragalus on expression of Apelin/APJ in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to high glucose and to search for the effective mechanism of astragalus on HUVECs. Methods  According to the requirements of the experiment, cultured HUVECs were divided into the normal control group, the high glucose group, the low concentration astragalus group（0.1g/L astragalus + high glucose）and the high concentration astragalus group（0.2g/L astragalus + high glucose）. When HUVECs were incubated in different concentrations of glucose and astragalus for 24h, proliferation activity of HUVECs was detected by cell counting Kit-8(CCK-8), morphological changes of HUVECs were observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope, and  expression of Apelin/APJ mRNA in HUVECs was investigated by RT-PCR techniques. Results  Compared with the normal control group,  the high glucose group had significantly decreased proliferation activity of HUVECs(P＜0.05); morphological destruction  of HUVECs in the high glucose group was observed under the microscope; and expression of Apelin/APJ mRNA in the high glucose group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05). Compared with the high glucose group, the low and high concentration astragalus groups had significantly increased proliferation activity of HUVECs (P＜0.05); morphological improvements of HUVECs in the low and high concentration astragalus groups were observed under the microscope; the expression of Apelin/APJ mRNA in the low and high concentration astragalus groups were significantly increased(P＜0.05). Conclusion  Astragalus can reduce the harmfulness of HUVECs exposed to high glucose, and it may be related to the up-regulation of Apelin/APJ mRNA in HUVECs.

Key words: High glucose； Human umbilical vein endothelial cells； Apelin/APJ； Astragalus