School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 1166, Liutai Avenue, Chengdu 611137, PR China.
School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 1166, Liutai Avenue, Chengdu 611137, PR China.
Pharmacol Res. 2021 Jun;168:105599. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105599. Epub 2021 Apr 7.
Atherosclerosis, a chronic multifactorial disease, is closely related to the development of cardiovascular diseases and is one of the predominant causes of death worldwide. Normal vascular endothelial cells play an important role in maintaining vascular homeostasis and inhibiting atherosclerosis by regulating vascular tension, preventing thrombosis and regulating inflammation. Currently, accumulating evidence has revealed that endothelial cell apoptosis is the first step of atherosclerosis. Excess apoptosis of endothelial cells induced by risk factors for atherosclerosis is a preliminary event in atherosclerosis development and might be a target for preventing and treating atherosclerosis. Interestingly, accumulating evidence shows that natural medicines have great potential to treat atherosclerosis by inhibiting endothelial cell apoptosis. Therefore, this paper reviewed current studies on the inhibitory effect of natural medicines on endothelial cell apoptosis and summarized the risk factors that may induce endothelial cell apoptosis, including oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), reactive oxygen species (ROS), angiotensin II (Ang II), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), homocysteine (Hcy) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We expect this review to highlight the importance of natural medicines, including extracts and monomers, in the treatment of atherosclerosis by inhibiting endothelial cell apoptosis and provide a foundation for the development of potential antiatherosclerotic drugs from natural medicines.
动脉粥样硬化是一种慢性多因素疾病，与心血管疾病的发展密切相关，是全球主要死亡原因之一。正常的血管内皮细胞通过调节血管张力、防止血栓形成和调节炎症，在维持血管稳态和抑制动脉粥样硬化方面发挥着重要作用。目前，越来越多的证据表明内皮细胞凋亡是动脉粥样硬化的第一步。动脉粥样硬化危险因素诱导的内皮细胞过度凋亡是动脉粥样硬化发展的初始事件，可能是预防和治疗动脉粥样硬化的靶点。有趣的是，越来越多的证据表明，天然药物通过抑制内皮细胞凋亡，具有治疗动脉粥样硬化的巨大潜力。因此，本文综述了天然药物抑制内皮细胞凋亡的研究进展，并总结了可能诱导内皮细胞凋亡的危险因素，包括氧化型低密度脂蛋白（ox-LDL）、活性氧（ROS）、血管紧张素 II（Ang II）、肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、同型半胱氨酸（Hcy）和脂多糖（LPS）。我们希望这篇综述能强调天然药物（包括提取物和单体）通过抑制内皮细胞凋亡治疗动脉粥样硬化的重要性，并为从天然药物中开发潜在的抗动脉粥样硬化药物提供基础。
