Lycopene Ameliorates Transplant Arteriosclerosis in Vascular Allograft Transplantation by Regulating the NO/cGMP Pathways and Rho‐Associated Kinases Expression

Abstract

Objective. Transplant arteriosclerosis is considered one of the major factors affecting the survival time of grafts after organ transplantation. In this study, we proposed a hypothesis of whether lycopene can protect grafted vessels through regulating key proteins expression involved in arteriosclerosis. Methods. Allogeneic aortic transplantation was performed using Brow-Norway rats as donors and Lewis rats as recipients. After transplantation, the recipients were divided into two groups: the allograft group and the lycopene group. Negative control rats (isograft group) were also established. Histopathological staining was performed to observe the pathological changes, and the expression levels of Ki-67, caspase-3, Rho-associated kinases, intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM-1), and eNOS were assessed. Western blotting analysis and real-time PCR were also performed for quantitative analysis. Results. The histopathological staining showed that vascular stenosis and intimal thickening were not evident after lycopene treatment. The Ki-67, ROCK1, ROCK2, and ICAM-1 expression levels were significantly decreased. However, eNOS expression in grafted arteries and plasma cGMP concentration were increased after lycopene treatment. Conclusions. Lycopene could alleviate vascular arteriosclerosis in allograft transplantation via downregulating Rho-associated kinases and regulating key factor expression through the NO/cGMP pathways, which may provide a potentially effective method for transplant arteriosclerosis in clinical organ transplantation.

Lycopene and Vascular Health

“…Inflammation is related to atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness, and major cardiovascular events. The anti-inflammatory role of lycopene was demonstrated by several studies (Hung et al, 2008 ; Kim et al, 2010 ; Xu et al, 2012 ; He et al, 2016 ). Hung et al revealed that lycopene can inhibit TNF-alpha induced NF-kappa B activation, expression of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and interaction between monocytes and endothelial cells, which might explain the cardiovascular benefits of lycopene (Hung et al, 2008 ).…”

“…Tomato products reduced oxidative stress related to postprandial lipemia and the associated inflammatory reaction in a study including normal weight participants (Burton-Freeman et al, 2012 ). He et al reported the benefits of lycopene in preventing transplant vasculopathy, demonstrating that intimal hyperplasia and smooth muscle cell proliferation were reduced by the administration of lycopene and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in allograft vessels was reduced in an animal model (He et al, 2016 ). Lycopene can ameliorate allograft atherosclerosis via downregulating Rho-associated kinases and regulating the expression of key factors through NO/cGMP pathways (He et al, 2016 ).…”

“…He et al reported the benefits of lycopene in preventing transplant vasculopathy, demonstrating that intimal hyperplasia and smooth muscle cell proliferation were reduced by the administration of lycopene and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in allograft vessels was reduced in an animal model (He et al, 2016 ). Lycopene can ameliorate allograft atherosclerosis via downregulating Rho-associated kinases and regulating the expression of key factors through NO/cGMP pathways (He et al, 2016 ). On the other hand, the benefits of the tomato-rich diet were not directly related to the anti-inflammatory effect according to a randomized study including 103 apparently healthy volunteers, after 300 g tomatoes daily for 1 month or placebo (Blum et al, 2007 ).…”

Lycopene as a Natural Antioxidant Used to Prevent Human Health Disorders

“…It remarkably lessened the expression of ROCK1, Ki-67, ICAM-1 and ROCK2, whereas it improved the expression of eNOS-implanted arteries and cGMP plasma concentration. In summary, lycopene is able to improve the vascular arteriosclerosis in the case of allograft transplantation by downregulating the expression of Rho-related kinases and by regulation of the NO/cGMP pathways expression, as well [61].…”

Alterations in lycopene concentration and Z‐isomer content in egg yolk of hens fed all‐E‐isomer‐rich and Z‐isomer‐rich lycopene

“…Several studies reported that when tomatoes were fed to hens, lycopene was accumulated in egg yolk (Akdemir, Orhan, Sahin, Sahin, & Hayirli, ; Gregosits et al, ; Kang, Kim, Cho, Yim, & Kim, ; Karadas et al, ; Olson, Ward, & Koutsos, ). Lycopene has especially high singlet oxygen quenching activity among various common carotenoids (Aizawa et al, ), and the dietary intake of this carotenoid offers many health benefits such as decreased risk of some cancers and arteriosclerosis (He et al, ; Wang, Cui, Xiao, Fang, & Xu, ). Hence, the intake of lycopene‐rich egg could lead to health promotion for humans.…”