Abstract
Korean red ginseng (KRG) is used worldwide as a popular traditional herbal medicine. KRG has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension. Up-regulation of a cytoprotective protein, heme oxygenase (HO)-1, is considered to augment the cellular defense against various agents that may induce cytotoxic injury. In the present study, we demonstrate that KRG water extract induces HO-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and possible involvement of the anti-oxidant transcription factor nuclear factor-eythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). KRG-induced HO-1 expression was examined by western blots, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining. Specifc silencing of Nrf2 genes with Nrf2-siRNA in HUVECs abolished HO-1 expression. In addition, the HO inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin blunted the preventive effect of KRG on Hinf2/infOinf2/inf-induced cell death, as demonstrated by terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay. Taken together, these results suggest that KRG may exert a vasculoprotective effect through Nrf2-mediated HO-1 induction in human endothelial cell by inhibition of cell death.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 352-359 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Ginseng Research |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2011 |
Keywords
- Endothelial cells
- Heme oxygenase
- Oxidative stress
- Panax ginseng
- Vascular diseases
