Abstract
Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction, which is found to precede the development of diverse cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The aim of this study was to observe the protective effects of PD against H2O2-induced oxidative stress injury (OSI) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the possible mechanism of PD in OSI treatment. HUVECs were subjected to H2O2 in the absence or presence of PD. It turned out that PD improved cell viability and adhesive and migratory abilities, inhibited the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and elevated the content of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). TUNEL, fluorometric assays, and Western blotting showed that OSI upregulated the apoptosis ratio, the activity of caspase-3 and the level of proapoptotic protein Bax and decreased the level of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. However, PD treatment partially reversed these damage effects and Protein Kinase C (PKC) activation by thymeleatoxin (THX) in turn eliminated the antiapoptotic effect of PD. Furthermore, PD attenuated the H2O2-induced phosphorylation of PKCs α and δ and increased the phosphorylation of PKC ε. Our results indicated that PD might exert protective effects against OSI through various interactions with PKC pathway.