Chai Hong, Dong Yanlan, Wang Xinwen, Zhou Wei
Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
J Surg Res. 2009 Dec;157(2):193-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2008.07.005. Epub 2008 Aug 15.
Intimal hyperplasia (IH) is the primary cause for post-angioplasty restenosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of homocysteine (Hcy) and ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) on IH using a guidewire injury animal model.
In 12-wk-old C57BL/6J mice, the left common carotid artery (CCA) was denudated with a guidewire and the right CCA was used as the uninjured control. They were treated with saline (NS), Hcy, Rb1, or Hcy + Rb1 for 4 wk prior to sacrifice. Animals were sacrificed at 4, 6, or 8 wk. Both CCAs were harvested and intimal-medium thickness (IMT) ratios were calculated. Local macrophage distribution was also studied.
Histology analyses demonstrated consistent internal elastic lamina disruption and focal IH in the injured CCA segments. The degree of IH correlated to the lengths of time following injury. Hcy treated group had significant increase in IMT compared with the NS group (P < 0.05), while Rb1 group was similar to the NS group. In addition, Hcy + Rb1 group showed significant improvement in IMT compared with Hcy group (P < 0.01). Furthermore, Hcy significantly increased local macrophage content as compared with either lesion alone or Rb1 treated animals.
Our study showed that Hcy increased the degree of IH and macrophage content in the injured CCA and that Rb1 attenuated these adverse effects. These changes might be mediated through antioxidative effects of Rb1. Our data suggests a potential clinical application of ginseng in controlling Hcy-related vascular injuries.
内膜增生（IH）是血管成形术后再狭窄的主要原因。本研究旨在使用导丝损伤动物模型研究同型半胱氨酸（Hcy）和人参皂苷Rb1（Rb1）对内膜增生的影响。
在12周龄的C57BL/6J小鼠中，用导丝剥脱左颈总动脉（CCA），右颈总动脉作为未损伤对照。在处死前4周，它们分别接受生理盐水（NS）、Hcy、Rb1或Hcy + Rb1治疗。在4、6或8周时处死动物。收集双侧颈总动脉并计算内膜中层厚度（IMT）比值。还研究了局部巨噬细胞分布。
组织学分析显示，损伤的颈总动脉节段存在一致的内弹力层破坏和局灶性内膜增生。内膜增生程度与损伤后的时间长度相关。与NS组相比，Hcy治疗组的IMT显著增加（P < 0.05），而Rb1组与NS组相似。此外，与Hcy组相比，Hcy + Rb1组的IMT有显著改善（P < 0.01）。此外，与单独损伤组或Rb1治疗组动物相比，Hcy显著增加了局部巨噬细胞含量。
我们的研究表明，Hcy增加了损伤颈总动脉的内膜增生程度和巨噬细胞含量，而Rb1减轻了这些不良反应。这些变化可能通过Rb1的抗氧化作用介导。我们的数据表明人参在控制Hcy相关血管损伤方面具有潜在的临床应用价值。
