Salvianolate inhibits proliferation and endothelin release in cultured ratmesangial cells

AIM: To study the effects of salvianolate, an aqueous extract of Radix Salv iae Miltiorrhizae, on the proliferation and endothelin release of cultured rat mesangial cells. METHODS: The proliferation of mesangial cells was dete rmined in terms of [H-3]thymidine uptake. The concentration of endothelin w as measured by radioimmunoassay. The cytotoxicity of salvianolate was teste d by tetrazolium (MTT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. RESULTS: Lipop olysaccharide (LPS) 10 mg/L increased the proliferation and endothelin rele ase in cultured mesangial cells. When mesangial cells pretreated with 3, 10 , and 30 mg/L of salvianolate were incubated for 4 h with LPS, salvianolate exhibited a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on proliferation and endothelin levels in the mesangial cells induced by LPS. Further more, the increased basal levels of mesangial cells proliferation and the endothelin release were also effectively inhibited by salvianolate 30 mg/L at 4, 8, a nd 12 h. Besides, no cytotoxicity of salvianolate was observed. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that salvianolate can inhibit mesangial cells proli feration, which may be related to the decrease of endothelin release.