Abstract:

Objective: To explore the influence of Shenhong Tongluo Granules in the lipid levels, atherosclerosis plaques and apoptosis in the plaques of atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-knokout mice, and to clarify the mechanism of Shenhong Tongluo Granules in anti-atherosclerosis. Methods: Forty SPF male mice aged six-week old were randomly divided into normal control group, model group, low dose of traditional chinese medicine(TCM) group and high dose of TCM group(n=10) after fed adaptively for 1 week. The mice in normal control group were fed with normal diet continuously, the mice in other three groups were fed with high fat diet to establish atherosclerosis model, and then the mice in low and high doses of TCM groups were respectively given Shenhong Tongluo Granules(5.06 and 10.12 g·kg^-1·d^-1) by gavage for 6 weeks. The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) of the mice in various groups were measured after the eyeball blood was collected. The aortic arch tissue was separated, and the morphotogy and the areas of atherosclerotic plaques were observed and calculated by HE staining; the apoptosis in plaques of the mice was evaluated by TUNEL method,and the apoptosis index was calculated. The expressions of apoptosis-assoicated gene Bcl-2 and Bax protein were measured by immunohistochemical staining. Results: The serum level of TG in low dose of TCM group was lower than that in model group(P<0.05); the serum levels of HDL-C in low and high doses of TCM groups were lower than that in model group(P<0.05 or P<0.01); the serum levels of TG and HDL-C in high dose of TCM group was higher than that in low dose of TCM group(P<0.05). The areas of atherosclerotic plaques of the mice in low and high doses of TCM groups were significantly smaller than that in model group(P<0.01). The apoptosis index of mice in low and high doses of TCM groups were significantly lower than that in model group(P<0.01); the expression levels of Bcl-2 protein in atherosclerosis plaques of the mice in low and high doses of TCM groups were lower than that in model group, while the expression levels of Bax were significantly higher than that in model group(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusion: Shenhong Tongluo Granules could effectively reduce the serum lipid level of ApoE^-/- mice, meanwhile it could inhibit apoptosis by regulating the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax protein, and then inhibit the progression of atherosclerotic plaques.

Key words: Shenhong Tongluo Granules, atherosclerosis, apoptosis, Bcl-2, Bax