Atorvastatin Reduces the Expression of COX-2 mRNA in Peripheral Blood Monocytes from Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction in Vitro

Objectives To examine effect of atorvastatin on the expression of COX-2 in peripheral blood monocytes from patients with early stage of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in vitro, and the IL-6 concentration in supernatant was also examined. Methods Patients with AMI (n=40) and with stable coronary heart disease (CHD) (n=18) were registered. Peripheral blood monocytes from all participants were isolated and cultured for 24 hrs, but those from patients with AMI were randomly exposed to various concentration of atorvastatin (0, 0.1, 1, 10 μmol/L) during the cultivation. COX-2 mRNA expression in monocytes was analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Concentration of IL-6 in supernatant was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results COX-2 expression and IL-6 secretion by peripheral blood monocytes from patients with AMI (0.92±0.13, 205±46 pg/ml) were higher than that from controls (0.19±0.08, 41±8 pg/ml) (both P<0.05), and COX-2 expression was dramatically reduced up to 52% by atorvastatin (P<0.05), in a concentration-dependent manner respectively. The expression of COX-2 from patients with AMI was obviously correlated with the secretion of IL-6 (r=0.636, P<0.05). COX-2 expression in the monocytes after intervention of atorvastatin was also positively correlated with IL-6 secretion by these cells (r=0.783, P<0.05). Conclusions COX-2 involves inflammatory respond in early-stage of AMI. Atorvastatin may decrease COX-2 expression in peripheral blood monocytes from patients with AMI and cyclooxygenase-dependent pathway might be correlated with the anti-inflammation mechanism of statin.

Leucosceptroid B from glandular trichomes of Leucosceptrum canum reduces fat accumulation in Caenorhabditis elegans through suppressing unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis

Obesity that is highly associated with numerous metabolic diseases has become a global health issue nowdays.Plant sesterterpenoids are an important group of natural products with great potential;thus,their bioactivities deserve extensive exploration.RNA-seq analysis indicated that leucosceptroid B,a sesterterpenoid previously discovered from the glandular trichomes of Leucosceptrum canum,significantly regulated the expression of 10 genes involved in lipid metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans.Furthermore,leucosceptroid B was found to reduce fat storage,and downregulate the expression of two stearoyl-CoA desaturase(SCD)genes fat-6 and fat-7,and a fatty acid elongase gene elo-2 in wild-type C.elegans.In addition,leucosceptroid B significantly decreased fat accumulation in both fat-6 and fat-7 mutant worms but did not affect the fat storage of fat-6;fat-7 double mutant.These findings indicated that leucosceptroid B reduced fat storage depending on the downregulated expression of fat-6,fat-7 and elo-2 and thereby inhibiting the biosynthesis of the corresponding unsaturated fatty acid.These findings provide new insights into the development and utilization of plant sesterterpenoids as potential antilipemic agents.