title: Salvianolate inhibits proliferation and endothelin release in cultured rat mesangial cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effects of salvianolate, an aqueous extract of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, on the proliferation and endothelin release of cultured rat mesangial cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  The proliferation of mesangial cells was determined in terms of [3H]thymidine uptake. The concentration of endothelin was measured by radioimmunoassay. The cytotoxicity of salvianolate was tested by tetrazolium (MTT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 10 mg/L increased the proliferation and endothelin release in cultured mesangial cells. When mesangial cells pretreated with 3, 10, and 30 mg/L of salvianolate were incubated for 4 h with LPS, salvianolate exhibited a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on proliferation and endothelin levels in the mesangial cells induced by LPS. Furthermore, the increased basal levels of mesangial cells proliferation and the endothelin release were also effectively inhibited by salvianolate 30 mg/L at 4, 8, and 12 h. Besides, no cytotoxicity of salvianolate was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that salvianolate can inhibit mesangial cells proliferation, which may be related to the decrease of endothelin release.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. ypwang@mail.shcnc.ac.cn
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Xuan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002109:Caffeic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016232:Endothelins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007773:Lactates / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002109:Caffeic Acids; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D016232:Endothelins; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D007773:Lactates; C061091:lithospermate B; C066201:salvianolic acid A