Gardenia fruit extract stimulates the proliferation of bovine aortic endothelial cells in culture.

We previously reported that Gardenia fruit extract had a stimulatory effect on fibrolysis in vitro. In the present study, we describe that the hot water extract from Gardenia fruit (GFE) stimulates the proliferation of cultured endothelial cells from bovine aorta. The cells were cultured in RPMI1640 medium supplemented 10% fetal bovine serum for up to 96 h in the presence of GFE (100 micrograms/ml and below). GFE at 25 and 50 micrograms/ml significantly increased the cell number after 48 h and above of the treatment. The incorporations of [3H]thymidine and [14C]leucine were significantly increased by 50 micrograms/ml GFE. The GFE stimulation of the proliferation was completely inhibited by 1 microM cycloheximide. The stimulatory activity of GFE was recognized in the low relative molecular mass (less than or equal to 10,000) fraction. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that a low molecular mass component of GFE stimulated endothelial cell proliferation and an increased protein synthesis was a essential component of this response. GFE may contain a useful compound to stimulate the proliferation of endothelial cells.