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Andrographolide Ameliorates Atherosclerosis by Suppressing Pro-Inflammation and ROS Generation-Mediated Foam Cell Formation

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Abstract

Inflammation, oxidative stress, and dyslipidemia are major factors in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Andrographolide, a bioactive component of Andrographis paniculata, has several biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. This study shows that andrographolide downregulates the oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced expression of the pro-inflammatory molecules monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 and interleukin (IL)-6 and blocks the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway in macrophages. Additionally, andrographolide treatment decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in oxLDL-induced macrophages, indicating that the compound can decrease oxidative stress. The results also suggest that andrographolide suppresses oxLDL-induced foam cell formation and inhibits oxLDL-induced CD36 expression in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo studies have indicated that andrographolide treatment ameliorates atherosclerosis pathogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Therefore, by suppressing inflammation, ROS generation, and foam cell formation, andrographolide may ameliorate the progression of atherosclerosis, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic drug for the prevention and/or treatment of this disease.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Editage [www.editage.cn] for the English language editing. We also thank Dr. Ying Liu from Guangdong Pharmaceutical University for providing good suggestion to experimental design and supporting parts of this project.   

Funding

This work was supported by science and technology development grants from Nanjing Medical University (grant no. 2017NJMU012).;the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2017A020211007), China; the Key Project of Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2016A030311014), China and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2015A030313582), China.

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Author notes

  1. Teng Wu and Yuan Peng contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Biomedical Engineering, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Teng Wu & Yuan Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease and Department of Pathophysiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

    Teng Wu

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, Second Affiliated Hospital of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Yuan Peng

  4. School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Sishan Yan, Ning Li & Tian Lan

  5. Organ Transplantation Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Yinghua Chen

  6. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Tian Lan

Authors
  1. Teng Wu
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  2. Yuan Peng
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  4. Ning Li
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Correspondence to Yinghua Chen or Tian Lan.

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Wu, T., Peng, Y., Yan, S. et al. Andrographolide Ameliorates Atherosclerosis by Suppressing Pro-Inflammation and ROS Generation-Mediated Foam Cell Formation. Inflammation 41, 1681–1689 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-018-0812-9

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