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Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice

BACKGROUND: Illicium verum Hook. fil. Illiciaceae (Illicium v.) has been traditionally used in herbal medicine for treating many inflammatory diseases, including skin inflammation and rheumatism. We investigated its use as a preventive agent against inflammatory and vascular diseases in a murine mod...

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Autores principales: Park, Sun Haeng, Sung, Yoon-Young, Nho, Kyoung Jin, Kim, Ho Kyoung
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4501282/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26174316
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12906-015-0750-0
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author Park, Sun Haeng
Sung, Yoon-Young
Nho, Kyoung Jin
Kim, Ho Kyoung
author_facet Park, Sun Haeng
Sung, Yoon-Young
Nho, Kyoung Jin
Kim, Ho Kyoung
author_sort Park, Sun Haeng
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Illicium verum Hook. fil. Illiciaceae (Illicium v.) has been traditionally used in herbal medicine for treating many inflammatory diseases, including skin inflammation and rheumatism. We investigated its use as a preventive agent against inflammatory and vascular diseases in a murine model of atherosclerosis using apolipoprotein E-knockout (ApoE(−/−)) mice fed on a high-fat diet (HFD). METHODS: We investigated the effect of Illicium v. on cytotoxicity, NF-κB activity, and adhesion molecule expression in TNF-α – stimulated HASMCs (Human Aortic smooth muscle cells). ApoE(−/−)mice, fed a HFD and treated daily for 12 weeks by oral administration of either Illicium v. (100 or 200 mg/kg) or atorvastatin (10 mg/kg), were evaluated for atherosclerotic lesions and inflammatory responses by performing Oil red O and iNOS staining, respectively. Expression of inflammatory cytokines (i.e., NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, COX, IκB-α, Iκκ-α/β) and adhesion molecules in the aorta were measured by western blot analysis. RESULTS: In TNF-α-stimulated HASMCs, Illicium v. treatment decreased NF-κB transcriptional activity, and NF-κB protein levels were reduced in a dose-dependent manner over a range of 10–100 μg/mL Illicium v. Also, Illicium v. attenuated the expression of adhesion molecules that are responsible for inflammation in these cells. In animal experiments, treatment with Illicium v. or atorvastatin counteracted the characteristic changes in body weight, blood pressure, and lipid levels seen in HFD-fed ApoE(−/−) mice. In addition, Illicium v. treatment reduced aortic atherosclerotic plaque lesions and the immunoreactivity of iNOS activation. The aortic expression of inflammatory adhesion molecules and cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, NF-κB, COX, IκB-α, Iκκ-α/β), which is characteristic of HFD-fed ApoE(−/−) mice, was attenuated by 12-week treatment with daily oral administration of Illicium v. or atorvastatin, and the most potent effect was seen with the herbal tincture. CONCLUSIONS: The beneficial effects of Illicium v. are consistent with a significant decrease in the iNOS-mediated inflammatory response, resulting in reduction of inflammation-associated gene expression. Treatment with Illicium v. may be the basis of a novel therapeutic strategy for hyperlipidemia-atherosclerosis.
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spelling pubmed-45012822015-07-15 Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice Park, Sun Haeng Sung, Yoon-Young Nho, Kyoung Jin Kim, Ho Kyoung BMC Complement Altern Med Research Article BACKGROUND: Illicium verum Hook. fil. Illiciaceae (Illicium v.) has been traditionally used in herbal medicine for treating many inflammatory diseases, including skin inflammation and rheumatism. We investigated its use as a preventive agent against inflammatory and vascular diseases in a murine model of atherosclerosis using apolipoprotein E-knockout (ApoE(−/−)) mice fed on a high-fat diet (HFD). METHODS: We investigated the effect of Illicium v. on cytotoxicity, NF-κB activity, and adhesion molecule expression in TNF-α – stimulated HASMCs (Human Aortic smooth muscle cells). ApoE(−/−)mice, fed a HFD and treated daily for 12 weeks by oral administration of either Illicium v. (100 or 200 mg/kg) or atorvastatin (10 mg/kg), were evaluated for atherosclerotic lesions and inflammatory responses by performing Oil red O and iNOS staining, respectively. Expression of inflammatory cytokines (i.e., NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, COX, IκB-α, Iκκ-α/β) and adhesion molecules in the aorta were measured by western blot analysis. RESULTS: In TNF-α-stimulated HASMCs, Illicium v. treatment decreased NF-κB transcriptional activity, and NF-κB protein levels were reduced in a dose-dependent manner over a range of 10–100 μg/mL Illicium v. Also, Illicium v. attenuated the expression of adhesion molecules that are responsible for inflammation in these cells. In animal experiments, treatment with Illicium v. or atorvastatin counteracted the characteristic changes in body weight, blood pressure, and lipid levels seen in HFD-fed ApoE(−/−) mice. In addition, Illicium v. treatment reduced aortic atherosclerotic plaque lesions and the immunoreactivity of iNOS activation. The aortic expression of inflammatory adhesion molecules and cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, NF-κB, COX, IκB-α, Iκκ-α/β), which is characteristic of HFD-fed ApoE(−/−) mice, was attenuated by 12-week treatment with daily oral administration of Illicium v. or atorvastatin, and the most potent effect was seen with the herbal tincture. CONCLUSIONS: The beneficial effects of Illicium v. are consistent with a significant decrease in the iNOS-mediated inflammatory response, resulting in reduction of inflammation-associated gene expression. Treatment with Illicium v. may be the basis of a novel therapeutic strategy for hyperlipidemia-atherosclerosis. BioMed Central 2015-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4501282/ /pubmed/26174316 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12906-015-0750-0 Text en © Park et al. 2015 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Park, Sun Haeng
Sung, Yoon-Young
Nho, Kyoung Jin
Kim, Ho Kyoung
Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title_full Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title_fullStr Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title_full_unstemmed Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title_short Protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice
title_sort protective activity ethanol extract of the fruits of illicium verum against atherogenesis in apolipoprotein e knockout mice
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4501282/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26174316
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12906-015-0750-0
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