title: Patchouli alcohol attenuates experimental atherosclerosis via inhibiting macrophage infiltration and its inflammatory responses.
abstract: Patchouli alcohol (PA) is a tricyclic sesquiterpene extracted from a traditional Chinese herb pogostemonis herba. Literatures have proven that PA could inhibit inflammatory responses in various inflammatory disease models. However, whether PA could protect against atherosclerosis, a chronic vascular inflammation, is unknown. In this study, we sought to explore this issue in atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E knockout mice fed an atherogenic diet, with or without daily PA intragastrical administration (40mg/kg). Our results showed that PA administration did not change plasma lipids metabolism, however, it significantly attenuated atherosclerotic plaque burdens in both the aorta and the aortic root. The lesional macrophage content, shown as Mac2 positive areas, was reduced, while the lesional smooth muscle cell and collagen content, shown as α-SMA positive areas and by Sirius red staining, respectively, was not affected in PA-treated mice, compared with non-treated controls. Aortic mRNA expression of macrophage inflammatory cytokines, including MCP-1, iNOS, IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL9 and CXCL11, was also reduced in PA-treated mice. Therefore, we demonstrated that PA could attenuate atherosclerosis, possibly by inhibiting macrophage infiltration and its inflammatory responses.
authors: Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Medical School of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China; Department of Cardiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, China. Electronic address: wanghuating65@163.com.
authors: Hua-Ting
authors: HT
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Cardiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, China.
authors: Zun-Zhe
authors: ZZ
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors: Zai-Cun
authors: ZC
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Cardiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, China.
authors: Shu-Mei
authors: SM
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Cardiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, China.
authors: Xiao-Jun
authors: XJ
authors: Cai
authors: Department of Cardiology, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, China.
authors: Guo-Hai
authors: GH
authors: Su
authors: Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Medical School of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China. Electronic address: zuyiyuanxjtu@163.com.
authors: Zu-Yi
authors: ZY
authors: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000473:pathology; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D008055:Lipids; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C052983:patchouli alcohol
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Macrophage infiltration; Macrophage inflammatory responses; Patchouli alcohol; Pogostemonis herba