Objective

2

To explore the differences in the protective effects of five formulas for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis on the aortic endothelial cells of New Zealand rabbits with heart blood stasis syndrome.

Method

2

Eighty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into a normal group （

n

=10） and an experimental group （

n

=70）. The heart blood stasis syndrome model was induced by starvation combined with a high-fat diet and adrenaline in the rabbits of the experimental group. Subsequently， the model rabbits were randomly divided into a model group， a Xuefu Zhuyutang group （3.55 g·kg

-1

·d

-1

）， a Taohong Siwutang group （2.66 g·kg

-1

·d

-1

）， a Danshenyin group （1.962 g·kg

-1

·d

-1

）， a Huoluo Xiaolingdan group （2.80 g·kg

-1

·d

-1

）， a Shixiaosan group （0.56 g·kg

-1

·d

-1

）， and a c-Jun N-terminal kinase （JNK） inhibitor （SP600125， 5 μg·kg

-1

）group. The normal group and the model group received the same amount of distilled water. The rabbits in five Chinese medicine groups were treated correspondingly by gavage， and those in the SP600125 group were injected with 0.5 mL of SP600125-dimethyl sulfoxide diluent. After the treatment， the aorta was collected， and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling （TUNEL） assay was used to detect the apoptosis of aortic endothelial cells. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-

α

（TNF-

α

） and interleukin-6 （IL-6）. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of JNK， phosphorylated JNK （p-JNK）， B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-9 （Caspase-9）， and cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-3 （Caspase-3） in aortic tissues. Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA levels of JNK， Bcl-2， Bax， Caspase-9， and Caspase-3 in aortic tissues.

Result

2

Five formulas could improve the apoptosis of aortic endothelial cells to varying degrees. To be specific， Xuefu Zhuyutang and Taohong Siwutang were optimal in efficacy， followed by Huoluo Xiaolingdan， Shixiaosan， and Danshenyin， and SP600125 was the worst （

P

<

0.05，

P

<

0.01）. Five formulas could reduce the content of TNF-

α

and IL-6 （

P

<

0.05，

P

<

0.01）， down-regulate the protein expression levels of JNK， p-JNK， Bax， Caspase-9， and Caspase-3 （

P

<

0.05，

P

<

0.01）， decrease the mRNA expression levels of JNK， Bax， Caspase-9， and Caspase-3 （

P

<

0.05，

P

<

0.01）， and up-regulate the protein and mRNA expression levels of Bcl-2 （

P

<

0.05，

P

<

0.01）.

Conclusion

2

Five formulas can all reduce the apoptosis of aortic endothelial cells in New Zealand rabbits with heart blood stasis syndrome with different efficacies. It may be related to the different effects of five formulas on the JNK signaling pathway.