title: Panax notoginseng saponins attenuate atherogenesis accelerated by zymosan in rabbits.
abstract: Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are highly valued traditional Chinese medicine. The effects of PNS (120 mg/kg, once daily administrated intragastrically (i.g.)) on atherosclerosis induced by a high-cholesterol diet and chronic inflammation, which was derived through zymosan (10 mg/kg, once every 2 d) administration intraperitoneally, were evaluated in rabbits for 8 weeks. A normal group, a simple high-fat diet group, and a zymosan plus high-cholesterol diet group (Zym) were used as controls. Typical pathologic changes associated with atherosclerosis in rabbits following induction by zymosan were alleviated by PNS treatment. After 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of treatment, PNS decreased the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein as well as increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level significantly in comparison with those in the Zym group, except for triglycerides at week 2. In addition, PNS treatment significantly decreased the mRNA expression levels of monocyte chemoattactant protein-1 and nuclear factor-kappaB/p65 in the aorta wall after 8 weeks of treatment compared with the Zym group. In conclusion, PNS attenuates atherogenesis through an antiinflammatory action and regulation of the blood lipid profile.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materia Medica and Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hai-Gang
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004036:Diet, Atherogenic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000096:biosynthesis; D053723:Panax notoginseng / Q000737:chemistry*; D011817:Rabbits; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012503:Saponins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015054:Zymosan / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008055:Lipids; D016328:NF-kappa B; D012503:Saponins; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D015054:Zymosan