Objective: To investigate the impact of HDL on oxLDL-induced apoptosis of endothelial cells and relevant mechanisms.
Methods: Human umbilical venous endothelial cells (ECV-304) were exposed to oxLDL or oxLDL + HDL. The apoptosis of the endothelial cells was checked by the Flow cytometry and DNA electrophoresis, while caspase-3 activity was meaured simultaneously.
Results: The apoptosis rates induced by 100 microg/ml and 200 microg/ml of oxLDL were 28.40 + 5.30% and 34.7 +/- 4.64%, with caspase-3 activity of 166. 01 +/- 16.44 and 263.74 +/- 46.62 pmol/(min x mg pro), respectively. The DNA electrophoresis showed typical ladders. With exposure to HDL (200 mixrog/ml), the above apoptosis rates dropped to 8.06 +/- 2.35% and 9.40 +/- 2.58% respectively. There were no apoptotic ladders while the caspase-3 activities were significantly reduced (67.73 +/- 14.83 and 111.26 +/- 27.13 pmol/(min x mg pro).
Conclusions: HDL can significantly reduce the apoptosis of cultured endothelial cells induced by oxLDL. This effect may be mediated via suppression of caspase-3 activity.