三七总皂苷对低氧大鼠肺动脉压和肺组织p38 MAPK表达的影响

目的:探讨三七总皂苷(PNS)对低氧大鼠p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(p38 MAPK)表达的影响,及预防低氧性肺动脉高压(HPH)的作用和机制。方法:将30只SD大鼠随机分为3组:正常对照组、低氧组和低氧+PNS组。观察各组大鼠平均肺动脉压(mPAP)、平均颈动脉压(mCAP)和右心室/(左心室+室间隔重量)比[RV/(LV+S)],免疫组化法和RT-PCR法分别检测肺小血管壁磷酸化p38 MAPK(p-p38 MAPK)蛋白和肺组织中mRNA的含量。结果:与对照组相比,低氧组大鼠mPAP、RV/(LV+S)明显升高,肺小动脉p-p38 MAPK及肺组织p38 MAPK mRNA含量显著升高(P0.05)。低氧+PNS组mPAP、RV/(LV+S)、肺小动脉p-p38 MAPK及肺组织p38 MAPK mRNA含量明显低于低氧组(P0.05)。结论:PNS具有显著预防HPH的作用,其机制可能与其降低p38 MAPK mRNA的表达有关。

Effect of Panax notoginoside on pulmonary arterial pressure and expression of p38 MAPK in lung tissues of hypoxic rats

AIM: To observe the effect of Panax notoginoside (PNS) on the pulmonary artery pressure and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p38 MAPK) in lung tissues of rats treated with hypoxia. METHODS: Thirty adult male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The rats in normal control group were exposed to normal conditions, the rats in hypoxia group were exposed to isobaric hypoxia, and the rats in hypoxia+PNS group were treated with PNS under the condition of hypoxia. After 4 weeks of treatment, the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and the mean carotid arterial pressure (mCAP) were measured by cardiac catheterization. The heart was isolated, and the right ventricle (RV), left ventricle plus ventricular septum (LV+S) were weighed to calculate the ratio of RV/(LV+S).The quantity of phospho-p38 MAPK(p-p38 MAPK) in rat pulmonary arterioles was determined by the method of immunohistochemistry and the mRNA content of p38 MAPK was tested by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The mPAP and RV/(LV+S) in hypoxia group were higher than those in normal control group. The expression of p-p38 MAPK in rat pulmonary arterioles and p38 MAPK mRNA in the lung tissues were higher than those in normal control group (P<0.05). The mPAP, RV/(LV+S), the expression of p-p38 MAPK in rat pulmonary arterioles and p38 MAPK mRNA in the lung tissues in hypoxia+PNS group were significantly lower than those in hypoxia group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: PNS possesses the preventive and therapeutic effect on hypoxic pulmonary hypertension by decreasing p-p38 MAPK and down-regulation of p38 MAPK mRNA in the lungs.