Journal
JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR PHARMACOLOGY
Volume 53, Issue 3, Pages 241-245Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/FJC.0b013e31819c74dc
Keywords
adhesion molecules; atherosclerosis; endothelial cells; ghrelin; smoking
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be a major cause of vascular injury in smokers. Ghrelin is a recently discovered peptide that plays a modulatory role in atherosclerosis. However, it is unknown how ghrelin regulates nicotine-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression. We examined nicotine-induced VCAM-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells pretreated with ghrelin and detected the activity of protein kinase C (PKC), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B. Our study showed that ghrelin inhibited nicotine-induced VCAM-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent way. We also found that ghrelin inhibited nicotine-induced PKC, p38 MAPK, and NF-kappa B activation. The results suggest that ghrelin inhibits nicotine-induced VCAM-1 expression, and PKC, p38 MAPK, and NF-kappa B play active roles in that process. Exogenous ghrelin may provide a possible approach for preventing or reversing atherosclerosis in smokers.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available