Astragaloside IV Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis in Rat Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells under High Glucose Concentrationin vitro

Abstract

Astragaloside IV is one of the main active ingredients of Radix astragali, which is a herbal remedy widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, its effects on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC), which plays a key role in the development of diabetic vascular complications, were not well studied. The present study was performed to examine the effects of astragaloside IV on proliferation, apoptosis and phenotypic modulation of VSMC under high D-glucose (25 mM). Application of astragaloside IV inhibited the proliferation and the rise of the proliferation index (PI) of VSMC induced by high glucose in a dose-dependent manner. Astragaloside IV induced apoptosis in VSMC under high glucose conditions, accompanied with typical morphological alterations and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta Psim). In addition, Western blot analysis revealed that astragaloside IV increased the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin, an important phenotypic modulation marker. In conclusion, astragaloside IV could inhibit high glucose-induced VSMC proliferation through intervention with the cell cycle, promoting apoptosis and regulating phenotypic modulation of VSMC, which strongly suggest that astragaloside IV could hinder the process of pathological vascular remodeling in diabetic patients.

Astragaloside IV Ameliorates Renal Fibrosis via the Inhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases and Antiapoptosis In Vivo and In Vitro

“…In this study, tubular apoptosis continued to increase in mice 14 days after UUO and in HK2 cells stimulated with TGF-b1; however, AS-IV significantly prevented tubular cell apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. AS-IV has been reported to have an antiapoptotic effect in PC12 cells , but Yuan et al (2008) showed that AS-IV promotes apoptosis in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. Our study focused on kidney tubular epithelial cells, and the results demonstrated that apoptosis of tubular cells plays a crucial role in the progression of renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis.…”

Astragaloside IV alleviates heart failure via activating PPARα to switch glycolysis to fatty acid β-oxidation

“…It has been shown to have multiple beneficial effects on diabetes through promoting the expression of PPARγ 22, 23 , and it has recently been shown to have a therapeutic action in neurodegenerative disease 24 . It also exhibits substantial inhibitory effect on apoptosis and the oxidative stress on hypertrophic cardiomyocytes in vivo and in vitro 25 .…”

Ferulic acid combined with astragaloside IV protects against vascular endothelial dysfunction in diabetic rats

“…Ferulic acid ( Figure 1A), as one of the major active components of Angelica sinensis, can effectively improve endothelial function in patients with coronary heart disease (14). Radix astragali, which is known as Huang-Qi in Chinese, is traditionally used for treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and wound healing, exerting anti-hyperglycemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects (15,16). Recently, some active components isolated from Radix astragali including astragaloside IV ( Figure 1B) have been demonstrated to have effects of alleviating glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and hypertriglyceridemia in DM (16,17).…”