Effect of Panax Notoginseng Saponins on Inhibiting Atherosclerosis and Improving Intestinal Barrier Integrity
Objective To explore the effects of Panax notoginseng saponins(PNS)on inhibiting Atherosclerosis(AS)and improving intestinal barrier function.Methods Twenty four apolipoprotein E knockout(ApoE-/-)mice were randomly divided into three groups:high-fat high-cholesterol control diet(HFD),HFD with PNS(50 mg·kg-1·d-1,PNS-L),or(250 mg·kg-1·d-1,PNS-H).C57BL/6J mice were included as the normal control and fed on a standard chow diet.PNS-L or PNS-H was administered orally to the mice by gavage once a day for 8 weeks,while the C57 and HFD group mice received an equal volume of saline.At the end of the experiment,hematoxylin and eosin(HE)and oil red O staining were performed to characterize the gross morphology and lipid deposition in the aorta root.The immunohistochemical analysis of MCP-1 and CD68 were used to observe the infiltration of macrophages in the aortic root.The pathological injury of ileum was observed by HE and Alcian blue staining.The immunofluorescence staining of Cingulin was used to observe the integrity of tight junctions in the ileum.The mRNA expression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and Claudin-1 was analyzed by Real time-PCR.The serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were detected by ELISA.Results The HFD mice had lots of lesion area and lipid deposition area in the aorta root compared with C57 mice.Meanwhile,HFD-induced histological changes in ileums,manifested as the shallowness of villi length and the decline of goblet cell numbers.In addition,the expression of intestinal tight junction protein was decreased and the intestinal barrier was impaired in the HFD-fed group.The serum inflammatory cytokines were significantly increased,and there were more infiltration of macrophages in the aortic root.Compared with the HFD group,PNS treatment had a significant reduction in lesion area,necrotic core area and lipid deposition area in the aortic root(P<0.05).Furthermore,PNS treatment attenuated the pathological alterations in the ileum,the villi length and the goblet cell numbers were significantly increased(P<0.05).PNS treatment significantly increased the expression of epithelial tight junction proteins Cingulin and Claudin-1(P<0.05),ameliorated the impairment of the intestinal barrier.In addition,the serum inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β were significantly decreased,and there were fewer infiltration of macrophages in the aortic root in PNS-treated mice(P<0.05).Conclusion PNS can improve the intestinal barrier function,reduce the inflammatory response and inhibit the progression of AS.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
