Protective effects of Guanxin Shutong capsule drug-containing serum on tumor necrosis factor-α-induced endothelial dysfunction through nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and the nitric oxide pathway

Abstract

The Chinese medicinal formula Guanxin Shutong capsule (GXSTC) has been used for almost 10 years as a clinical treatment for chest pain, depression, palpitation and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of GXSTC drug-containing serum on tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-stimulated endothelial cells. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay, and nitric oxide (NO) levels and NO synthase (NOS) activity were measured as standards of endothelial dysfunction. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were evaluated using commercial kits. In addition, the protein expression of endothelial NOS (eNOS), AKT and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase subunits was examined to evaluate the effect of GXSTC drug-containing serum on ECV304 cells. GXSTC significantly reversed the decrease in NO production induced by TNF-α (5 ng/ml) in ECV304 cells. The expression of NADPH oxidase subunits was increased by TNF-α treatment, but markedly inhibited by treatment with GXSTC in TNF-α-stimulated cells. In summary, GXSTC increased the production of NO in ECV304 cells and exerted a protective effect on ECV304 cells stimulated with TNF-α by upregulating the mRNA and protein expression of eNOS. This was accompanied by increased SOD activity and reduced MDA levels. These results suggested that GXSTC protects the endothelium via the NO pathway and exhibits antioxidant effects.

Study on the Mechanism of Improving HIV/AIDS Immune Function with Jian Aikang Concentrated Pill Based on Network Pharmacology Combined with Experimental Validation

“…Cell experiments by Zeye Zhang and Yanjun Cao on Chinese herbs also yielded similar results to this experiment. 76 , 77 Secondly, compared with a single compound, TCM compounds have multiple components acting at the same time. This effect may be a combination of positive, negative, transformation and superposition.…”

Preparation of Herbal Medicine: Er-Xian Decoction and Er-Xian-containing Serum for <em>In Vivo</em> and <em>In Vitro</em> Experiments

“…The concept of a drug-containing serum was first proposed by Tashino in 1988 6 . Since then, increasing numbers of researchers have applied it to herbal medicine 7,8,9 . Although the method of drug-containing serum has some limitations, such as the influence of certain components of the serum, it is still considered to be a method that closely mimics physiological conditions.…”

“…The dilution of serum (1:10 is recommended) is not taken into account; that is, 10-fold of the equivalent dose is not applied to the serum-provided animals due to the potential toxic reaction caused by treated cells or organs 31 . The drug administration frequency varies from once a day for 3 to 14 days to two times per day (2 h between each administration) 7,8,32 . The collection time usually occurs between hours 1 and 2 (before hour 6) after the last administration 33,34 .…”

Sijunzi decoction‑treated rat serum induces apoptosis of side population cells in gastric carcinoma

“…Thus, the therapeutic effect of medicated serum is representative of serum pharmacology, and more befitting than the use of traditional pharmacology in traditional CM research (14). There have been a number of studies using serum from animals treated with Chinese herbal medicine in in vitro cell experiments, which have shown good applicability (15)(16)(17). In the present study, serum from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats treated with SJZD was used to serve as an authentic mimic of in vivo circumstances.…”