Skip Navigation



Cardiovascular Research Advance Access [Accepted Manuscript] published online on February 27, 2009
Cardiovascular Research, doi:10.1093/cvr/cvp078
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
82/3/484    most recent
cvp078v2
cvp078v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wang, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Xu, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wang, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Xu, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Berberine prevents hyperglycemia-induced endothelial injury and enhances vasodilatation via AMP-activated protein kinase and eNOS

Yiqun Wang1, Yu Huang4, Karen S. L. Lam1,3, Yiming Li5, Wing Tak Wong4, Hongying Ye5, Chi-Wai Lau4, Paul M. Vanhoutte2,3 and Aimin Xu1,2,3,*

1 Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong
2 Department of Pharmacology, University of Hong Kong
3 Research Center for Heart, Brain, Hormone and Healthy Ageing, University of Hong Kong
4 Institute of Vascular Medicine and Department of Physiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong
5 Division of Endocrinology, Hua Shan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

* Address correspondence to Aimin Xu, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, L8-40, New Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong. Tel: 852 28199754; Fax: 852 28162095. Email: amxu{at}hkucc.hku.hk

Aims: Endothelial dysfunction is a key event that links obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine the protective effect of the alkaloid drug berberine against hyperglycemia-induced cellular injury and endothelial dysfunction.

Methods and Results: In both cultured endothelial cells and blood vessels isolated from rat aorta, berberine concentration-dependently enhanced phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) at Ser1177 and promoted the association of eNOS with heat shock protein (HSP) 90, leading to an increased production of nitric oxide (NO). Furthermore, berberine attenuated high glucose-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), cellular apoptosis, nuclear factor-{kappa}B activation and expression of adhesion molecules, thus suppressing monocyte attachment to endothelial cells. In mouse aortic rings, berberine elicited endothelium-dependent vasodilatations and alleviated high glucose-mediated endothelial dysfunction. All these beneficial effects of berberine on the endothelium were abolished by either pharmacological inhibition of AMP-activated protein kinase, or adenovirus-mediated overexpression of a dominant negative version of AMPK.

Conclusions: Berberine protects against endothelial injury and enhances the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, which is mediated in part through activation of the AMPK signaling cascade. Berberine or its derivatives may be useful for the treatment and/or prevention of endothelial dysfunction associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Time for primary review: 19 Days

W.Y and H.Y contribute equally to this work.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CirculationHome page
J. Xu and M.-H. Zou
Molecular Insights and Therapeutic Targets for Diabetic Endothelial Dysfunction
Circulation, September 29, 2009; 120(13): 1266 - 1286.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.