title: Lycopene Ameliorates Transplant Arteriosclerosis in Vascular Allograft Transplantation by Regulating the NO/cGMP Pathways and Rho-Associated Kinases Expression.
abstract: Objective.Transplant arteriosclerosis is considered one of the major factors affecting the survival time of grafts after organ transplantation. In this study, we proposed a hypothesis of whether lycopene can protect grafted vessels through regulating key proteins expression involved in arteriosclerosis.Methods.Allogeneic aortic transplantation was performed using Brow-Norway rats as donors and Lewis rats as recipients. After transplantation, the recipients were divided into two groups: the allograft group and the lycopene group. Negative control rats (isograft group) were also established. Histopathological staining was performed to observe the pathological changes, and the expression levels of Ki-67, caspase-3, Rho-associated kinases, intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM-1), and eNOS were assessed. Western blotting analysis and real-time PCR were also performed for quantitative analysis.Results.The histopathological staining showed that vascular stenosis and intimal thickening were not evident after lycopene treatment. The Ki-67, ROCK1, ROCK2, and ICAM-1 expression levels were significantly decreased. However, eNOS expression in grafted arteries and plasma cGMP concentration were increased after lycopene treatment.Conclusions.Lycopene could alleviate vascular arteriosclerosis in allograft transplantation via downregulating Rho-associated kinases and regulating key factor expression through the NO/cGMP pathways, which may provide a potentially effective method for transplant arteriosclerosis in clinical organ transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Discipline in Surgery, Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Yunqiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4216-8931
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Discipline in Surgery, Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Bicheng
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5663-7065
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.
authors.forename: Ziqiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6280-6059
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D064591:Allografts / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000637:transplantation; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D000077276:Lycopene; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000009:adverse effects; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D002338:Carotenoids; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D006152:Cyclic GMP; D000077276:Lycopene