[Study of the effect of crocin on rat experimental hyperlipemia and the underlying mechanisms].
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of crocin on rat experimental hyperlipemia and its mechanisms.


METHODS
Hyperlipemia model was established by feeding heavy cholesterol for 2 months and the effect of crocin on blood lipid in experimental hyperlipemia rats was observed. Aortic smooth muscle cells were cultured in different culture media and proliferation was measured by MTT assay. Western blotting was used to detect the effect of crocin on phosphorylation of p38 MAPK.


RESULTS
Crocin not only decreased greatly the content of cholesterol, triglyceride and density lipoprotein in blood, but also increased the content of high density lipoprotein. In addition, the proliferation of smooth muscle cells and the activation of p38MAPK were inhibited by Crocin.


CONCLUSIONS
Crocin prevents atherosclerosis in hyperlipemia, which may be mediated by the inhibition of both proliferation of smooth muscle cells and activation of p38MAPK.
Xu
Guang-lin
GL
Center for Drug Research and Development, College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China. xudunlop@126.com
Yu
Shu-qin
SQ
Gong
Zhu-nan
ZN
Zhang
Shuan-quan
SQ
D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000166:cytology; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D027622:Crocus / Q000737:chemistry; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002338:Carotenoids; C029036:crocin; D002784:Cholesterol; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases