Abstract:

Abstract:Objective To observe the influence of urantide on the injury of thoracic aorta in rats with atherosclerosis(AS) and to investigate its mechanism of prevention and treatment of AS.Methods The AS rat model was induced by feeding high fat diet and arterial intimal injury with intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D3,and the rats were randomly divided into normal control group,AS model group,positive medicine group and urantide group;biochemistry was used to detect the  levels of serum Ca ²⁺ ,triglycerides (TG),total cholesterol (TC),high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL);hematoxylin-eosin staining was performed to observe the morphogical changes of rat thoracic aorta; RT-PCR method was used to measure the mRNA expressions of urotensin Ⅱ(UⅡ) and G protein couple receptor 14(GPR14).Results The levels of serum Ca²⁺,TG,TC,HDL and LDL  of the rats in AS model group were significantly higher than those in normal control group（P<0.01）;compared with AS model group,the expression levels of the serum indicators were gradually decreased with the prolongation of time,and reached or approached the serum levels in  positive medicine group（P<0.01）.The rats in AS model group had the typical AS changes in  thoracic aorta;compared with normal control group,the expression levels of UⅡ and  GPR14 mRNA in AS model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）;compared with AS model group,the expression levels of UⅡ and GPR14 mRNA of the rats in urantide group were decreased（P<0.01） with the prolongation of time.Conclusion Urantide has significantly protective effect on the injury of thoracic aorta in AS rats.
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Key words: urotensin Ⅱ, urantide, thoracic aorta injury, atherosclerosis