Effect of palmitic acid on the expression of PI3K/Akt in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and the intervention of liuweidihuang pill

Abstract:

Objective：To observe the effect of palmitic acid（PA） on the expression of PI3K/Akt mRNA and protein in human umbili－cal vein endothelial cells（HUVEC） and the intervention of the serum containing liuweidihuang pill（LWDHP）. Methods：Firstly the serum containing LWDHP was prepared，and then the human umbilical vein endothelial cells were divided into normal group，model group，LWDHP group with serum containing concentration of 5% and metformin（MET） group. The mRNA and protein expression lev－els of PI3K/Akt were determined by RT-PCR and Western blot，respectively. Results：RT-PCR showed that mRNA expression of PI3K/Akt was significantly lower in model group than in normal group（PPI3K＝0.000，PAkt＝0.000），while mRNA expression of PI3K/Akt was significantly higher in 5% LWDHP group（PPI3K＝0.012，PAkt＝0.000） and in MET group（PPI3K＝0.000，PAkt＝0.000） than in model group. There were statistically significant differences in mRNA expression of PI3K/Akt between MET group and 5% LWDHP group（PPI3K＝0.000，PAkt＝0.000）. Western blot showed that protein expression of PI3K/P-Akt was also significantly lower in model group than in normal group（PPI3K＝0.000，PP-Akt＝0.000），while protein expression of PI3K/P-Akt was also significantly higher in 5% LWDHP group（PPI3K＝0.000，PP-Akt＝0.000） and in MET group（PPI3K＝0.000，PP-Akt＝0.000） than in model group. There were statistically significant differences in protein expression of PI3K/Akt between MET group and 5% LWDHP group（PPI3K＝0.003，PP-Akt＝0.001）. Conclusion：The serum containing LWDHP could promote the expression of PI3K/Akt mRNA and protein in HUVEC damaged by PA.