Baicalin Protects against Thrombin-Induced Cell Injury in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Thrombin plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Baicalin, an active flavonoid compound, was shown to attenuate the development of atherosclerosis, but the mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, the role and mechanism of baicalin in thrombin-induced cell injury was inv...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anna Zhang, Yunfeng Hou, Chao Sun, Ying Pu, Yu Sun, Yuan Zhang, Yang Shen, Qingbo Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2019-01-01
Series:BioMed Research International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/2187306
Description
Summary:Thrombin plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Baicalin, an active flavonoid compound, was shown to attenuate the development of atherosclerosis, but the mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, the role and mechanism of baicalin in thrombin-induced cell injury was investigated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our results showed that baicalin significantly reduced thrombin-induced apoptosis of HUVECs. Additional experiments showed that baicalin inhibited thrombin-induced NF-κB activation and PAR-1 expression. In addition, baicalin decreased thrombin-induced PAR-1 expression by inhibiting ERK pathway. These results indicated that baicalin has protective effects on thrombin-induced cell injury in HUVECs possibly through inhibition of PAR-1 expression and its downstream NF-κB activation, which was mediated by ERK1/2 activation.
ISSN:2314-6133
2314-6141