ANTI-ATHEROSCLEROTIC EFFECT OF URSOLIC ACID

Jun Hui Park1, Man Kyu Huh2 and Yong Lim1*

ABSTRACT

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation is a key event in the development of hypertension, in stent restenosis and other cardiac disorders. Drug-eluting coronary stents may delay vascular healing and increase late stent thrombosis. Platelet aggregation and VSMC proliferation are essential events in the pathogenesis of atherothrombotic diseases. This study investigated the anti-atherosclerotic effect of ursolic acid. Ursolic acid significantly inhibited collagen induced washed rabbit platelet aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibition rate of coagulation compared to the control group was found to be 36.0%, 56.1% and 77.2% at 10 μM, 30 μM and 50 μM concentrations of uricol, respectively (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01). There was no difference in the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and the prothrombin time (PT) between uricosylate and control, indicating that uric acid did not affect blood coagulation. The number of vascular smooth muscle cells induced by the platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) was significantly increased compared with the control group, and the number of vascular smooth muscle cells treated with uric acid was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner at 30 μM and 50 μM. Taken together, these data provide new evidence that ursolic acid is able to inhibit VSMC proliferation and platelet aggregation, which may be a novel resource for the development of anti-atherosclerotic agents.

Keywords: Blood coagulation, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), ursolic acid, vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC).