Effect of asiaticoside on endothelial cells in hypoxia‑induced pulmonary hypertension

作者：Xiaobing Wang, Xueli Cai, Wu Wang, Yi Jin, Mayun Chen, Xiaoying Huang, Xiaochun Zhu, Liangxing Wang · 发表于：Molecular Medicine Reports · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.3892/mmr.2017.8254 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Treatments、Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects、Cardiovascular, Neuropeptides, and Oxidative Stress Research

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a chronic progre-ssive disease with limited treatment options. The exact etiology and pathogenesis of PH remain to be elucidated, however there is novel evidence that implicates abnormal endothelial cells (ECs) apoptosis and dysfunction of ECs to be involved in the initiation of PH. Asiaticoside (AS) is a saponin monomer extracted from a medicinal plant called Centella asiatica, which had a preventing effect of hypoxia‑induced pulmonary hypertension (hypoxic PH) by blocking transforming growth factor‑β1/SMAD family member 2/3 signaling in our previous study. The present study demonstrated that AS can prevent the development of hypoxic PH and reverse the established hypoxic PH. AS may activate the nitric oxide (NO)‑mediated signals by enhancing the phosphorylation of serine/threonine‑specific protein kinase/eNOS, thus promoting NO production, and prevent ECs from hypoxia‑induced apoptosis. All these findings imply that AS may be a potential therapeutic option for hypoxic PH patients due to its effect on the vitality and function of endothelial cells.