BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF Tessaria absinthioides AND Prosopis strombulifera ON HUMAN ENDOTHELIAL VASCULAR CELLS

ISABEL QUESADA; DIPAOLA MATILDE; HAPON MB; GAMARRA-LUQUES, CARLOS; CASTRO CLAUDIA

Mendoza

Congreso; XXXVI Scientific Meeting of the Cuyo Biology Society; 2018

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

The use of herbals in the treatment of disease is a well-established practice in traditional medicine. Tessaria absinthioides (Ta) and Prosopis strombulifera (Ps) are native plants from South-America with reported ethnopharmacological uses. Despite recent scientific reports about plant-derived compounds effects, there is not a well-conducted research about its effects on cardiovascular disease (CAD). The aim of this work was to analyze the potential antioxidant effects of aqueous extracts from leaves of Ta and Ps on human endothelial cells (HUVEC) isolated from the human umbilical cord. After cell exposure to different concentrations of Ta and Ps, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence and dihydroethidium assays. Total antioxidant status (TAS) of treated cells was measured by colorimetric assay. qRT-PCR was utilized to examine NADPH oxidases (NOX) subunits mRNA expression. Angiotensin II-induced HUVEC intracellular ROS generation was significantly diminished by the addition of 1 and 4 μg/ml of Ta or Ps extracts. Ta and Ps extracts (1 and 4 μg/ml) significantly increased TAS in HUVEC (Ta in a dose-dependent manner). Ps (4 μg/ml) was able to downregulate NOX2 (p< 0.05) and NOX5 (p