title: Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 involvement in the alpha-tocopherol-induced reduction of atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E knockout mice.
abstract: We studied the effects of alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplementation on the development of fatty streaks and its ability to modulate the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in aortic lesions of apolipoprotein E knockout mice. For this purpose, 16-week-old apolipoprotein E knockout mice received alpha-tocopherol supplementation (800 mg)/kg diet) for 6 weeks. After this time, total and lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum, hepatic tocopherol, aortic lesion area and MCP-1 (protein and mRNA) expression were analysed. Our present results showed that the dietary supplementation with alpha-tocopherol did not reduce serum cholesterol nor change lipoprotein profile, but it reduced the area of the aortic lesion by 55 %. The reduction in the lesion size was correlated with the reduced expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein, as detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry respectively. In conclusion, the results obtained here are relevant to the study of atherosclerosis, as they correlate the effectiveness of vitamin E supplementation in inhibiting the plaque formation with diminished expression of MCP-1 at the aortic lesion.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 486, 30 161-970, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria C G
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Peluzio
authors.forename: Emir
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.forename: Thaís C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Drumond
authors.forename: Giovana C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: César
authors.forename: Helton C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.forename: Mauro M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Enio C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Rosa M E
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Arantes
authors.forename: Jacqueline I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Leite
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D023421:Models, Animal; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D008074:Lipoproteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002784:Cholesterol; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol