Effect of cilostazol on vascular adhesion molecule-1 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Objective To investigate the effect of cilostazol on vascular adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) and the possible mechanism of the antiatherosclerotic effect. Methods HUVECs were cultivated in vitro,pretreated with cilostazol in different concentrations(0 μg/L,0.05 μg/L,0.1 μg/L,1.0 μg/L,10 μg/L) for one hour,and by stimulation with tumor necrosis facter-alpha(TNF-α)(10 μg/L) for 24 hours.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 on mRNA. Results Expressions of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 on mRNA which were up-regulated by TNF-α were significantly suppressed by cilostazol in a dose dependent manner,with the increase of cilostazol concentration,expression of ICAM-1 on mRNA dropped gradually,0.239±0.012,0.205±0.012,0.166±0.010 and 0.136±0.008,expressions of VCAM-1 on mRNA also reduced,0.114±0.048,0.093±0.051,0.083±0.045 and 0.068±0.039. Conclusion The inhibition of function of cilostazol in VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression induced by TNF-α,demonstrates that cilostazol has the effect of inhibiting the adhesion of blood mononuclear cell to HUVECs,and this contributes to antiatherosclerotic effect of cilostazol on the onset and development of atherosclerosis.