Effects of Statins and Xuezhikang on the Expression of Secretory Phospholipase A2, Group IIA in Rat Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Abstract

SummaryAtherosclerosis is a multifactorial vascular disease characterized by formation of inflammatory lesions. Secretory phospholipase A2, group IIA (sPLA2-IIA) is involved in this process and plays a critical role. However, the exact role of sPLA2-IIA in cardiovascular inflammation is more complicated and remains unclear. Furthermore, both statins and Xuezhikang (XZK) are widely used in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease risk because of their pleiotropic effects on the cardiovascular system. However, their effects on sPLA2-IIA are still controversial. We investigated the regulation of sPLA2-IIA by rat thoracic aorta smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in culture. Cells were first incubated with IL-1β alone to induce expression of sPLA2-IIA and then treated with several concentrations of statins or XZK for different times in the absence or presence of IL-1β. We tested the expression of sPLA2-IIA, including sPLA2-IIA mRNA, protein, as well as activity. We found that statins or IL-1β increase the expression of sPLA2-IIA in VSMCs and the effect is based on a synergetic relationship between them. However, for the first time, we observed that XZK effectively reduces sPLA2-IIA expression in IL-1β-treated VSMCs. Our findings may shine a new light on the clinical use of XZK and statins in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis-related thrombosis. (Int Heart J 2017; 58: 115-124)

Novel ASK1 Inhibitor AGI-1067 Attenuates AGE-Induced Fibrotic Response by Suppressing the MKKs/p38 MAPK Pathway in Human Coronary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells

“…5) Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play an important role in the occurrence and progression of athero-sclerosis. 6) VSMCs exhibit various phenotypes. 7) Under normal physiological conditions, VSMCs are quiescent and participate in the regulation of arterial contractions.…”

Medical Therapy Induced Regression of Plaque in a Female Patient with ASCVD

“…7,8) Statins have many other roles beside lowering cholesterol, such as anti-inflammatory effects, immunomodulatory effects, and increasing the release of vascular endothelial nitric oxide. 9) Collectively, compliance with statin therapy is of great importance for major-events prevention and atherosclerotic plaque regression.…”

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Combined with Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol as the Targets of Statin Therapy in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

“…The anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of statins can improve the endothelial function and stabilize plaques, which are independent of the lipidlowering effect of statins. [9][10][11][18][19][20] CRP, especially hs-CRP, is closely related to cardiovascular diseases and could effectively reflect the inflammation status of patients with atherosclerosis. 21,22) There are many studies that have demonstrated that CRP is significantly associated with cardiovascular risk and that it could be used as an independent predictive factor of cardiovascular diseases.…”