title: Centella asiatica and lipoic acid, or a combination thereof, inhibit monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells from umbilical cords of gestational diabetic women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Diabetes mellitus is associated with inflammatory endothelial activation and increased vascular leukocyte adhesion molecule expression, both playing a prominent role in the development of vascular complications. Centella asiatica (CA) and Lipoic Acid (LA) have shown anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties in a variety of experimental models; however, their action on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), chronically exposed to hyperglycemia and pro-inflammatory environment during pregnancy, is still unknown.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In HUVECs from umbilical cords of gestational diabetic (GD) or healthy (C) women, both CA and LA affected tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced inflammation, being associated with a significant decrease in vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression (western blot) and exposure (flow cytometry), as well as monocyte-HUVECs interaction (adhesion assay). Notably, this was associated with a significant reduction of an index of nitro-oxidative stress, such as the intracellular peroxynitrite levels (fluorescence detection by cytometric analysis), Mitogen-Activated Protein kinase (p44/42 MAPK) expression/phosphorylation levels and Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB p65) cytoplasm-nucleus translocation (flow cytometry). Overall our results indicate that both CA and LA used separately, and even better when combined, are effective to reduce the inflammatory response in TNF-α-treated HUVECs. Notably, this was more significant in GD than in C-HUVECs and also evident at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, our in vitro study demonstrates that both CA and LA, or a combination thereof, are able to mitigate the potentially dangerous effects on the endothelium of chronic exposure to hyperglycemia in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Di Tomo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Silvestre
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: V G P
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Cordone
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giardinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Faricelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pipino
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lanuti
authors.affiliation: Morningside Laboratory for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Formoso
authors.affiliation: Morningside Laboratory for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: CoreQuest Sagl, Manno, Ticino, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arduini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandolfi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy; Aging Research Center, Ce.S.I., "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti, Italy. Electronic address: n.dipietro@unich.it.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Pietro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000096:biosynthesis; D028041:Centella; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000473:pathology*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D009000:Monocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011247:Pregnancy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D008063:Thioctic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C526146:Centella asiatica extract; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014315:Triterpenes; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D008063:Thioctic Acid
keywords: Centella asiatica; Endothelial dysfunction; Gestational diabetes; Inflammation; Lipoic Acid