Ursolic acid (UA), a triterpenoid compound found in plants that used in the human
diet and in medicinal herbs, possesses a wide range of biological benefits including
anti-oxidative, anti-inflammation, and anti-carcinogenesis effects. Endothelial
expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) mediates vasculogenesis and
nitric oxide (NO) produced by endothelial NO (eNOS) represents a vascular
protection principle. It is unclear whether UA affects the neovascularization mediating
by AIF-1 and eNOS expression. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms
of UA on angiogenesis in vivo in hind limb ischemic animal models and in vitro in
human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs). In this study, we tried to explore
the impact of UA on ECs activities in vitro in human coronary endothelial cells,
vascular neovasculogenesis in vivo in mouse hind-limb ischemia model, and the
possible role of AIF-1 in the vasculogenesis. The results demonstrated that UA
enhances collateral blood flow recovery through induction of neovascularization in a
hind limb ischemia mouse model. The in vitro data show that UA increases tube
formation and migration capacities in human endothelial cells; exposing HCAECs to
UA increased AIF-1 expression through NO-related mechanism. Moreover, UA
administration increased capillary density, eNOS and AIF-1 expression in ischemic
muscle. These findings suggest that UA may act as a therapeutic agent in the
induction of neovascularization and provide a novel mechanistic insight into the
potential effects of UA on the ischemic vascular diseases.
關聯:
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 58(24):12941-12949
