ANTIOXIDANT EFFECTS OF HERBAL EXTRACTS ON CULTURED VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS

ISABEL MARÍA QUESADA; DEPAOLA MATILDE; JUAN DE DIOS ALFONSO; BELEN HAPON; CARLOS GAMMARRA-LUQUES; CLAUDIA CASTRO

Villa de Merlo, San Luis

Congreso; XXXV SOCIEDAD DE BIOLOGÍA DE CUYO; 2017

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 identification and activities, there is not a well conducted research about its effects on cardiovascular disease. The aim of this work was to analyze whether aqueous extracts from leaves of Ta and Ps have antioxidant properties in aorta smooth muscle cells (ASMC) which constitute one of the main components of the middle layer of the aorta artery and are one of the main therapeutic targets in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Cytotoxicity was tested in primary culture of aorta smooth muscle cells from WKY rats, using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) tetrazolium reduction assay and intracellular oxidative stress by fluorometric CM-H2DCFDA assay after cell exposure to different concentrations of Ta and Ps extracts. Ta and Ps extracts has induced cytotoxicity at 10 μg/ml when the medium was enriched with 10% fetal serum bovine (FBS). On the other hand, when the medium was suplemented with 0,1% FBS, various concentration showed proliferation of ASMC. Intracellular ROS levels where diminished by the addition of Ta or Ps extracts at 1-5 μg/ml concentrations when ASMC where first stimulated to generate ROS with Angiotensin II. In conclusion, these herbal extracts may have beneficial effects on preventing or treating cardiovascular diseases, although further studies are needed to understand the molecular mechanisms of action of these medicinal plants.