Pinoresinol Diglucoside Alleviates oxLDL-Induced Dysfunction in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Deposition of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is one of the initiators and promoters of atherosclerosis. lignans were shown to possess antihypertensive effects. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pinoresinol diglucoside (PD), a lignan, on oxLDL-induced endothelial dysfunction. HUVECs were treated with oxLDL and/or PD followed by assessing radical oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, nitrogen oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity with specific assays kits, mRNA levels with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and protein levels with western blot. PD abolished oxLDL-induced ROS and MDA production, apoptosis, upregulation of lectin-like oxidized LDL recptor-1 (LOX-1), intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-B), and activation of p38MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinases)/NF-B signaling. Meanwhile, PD alleviated oxLDL-caused inhibition of SOD activity, eNOS expression, and NO production. These data demonstrated that PD was effective in protecting endothelial cells from oxLDL-caused injuries, which guarantees further investigation on the clinical benefits of PD on cardiovascular diseases.