Study on injury of human vascular endothelial cells by cholesterol

Objective To investigate the injuries caused by cholesterol to the vascular endothelial cells (VECs). Methods Different dosage of cholesterol (6.25,12.5,25.0,50.0 mg/L) was used on human umbilical endothelial cell line,ECV304,respectively. LDH activity,nitric oxide and the nitric oxide synthetase activity in the supernatant of cell culture were detected. The concentration of MCP-1 protein in cell culture was detected by ELISA. Results As compared with the normal control cells,a significant increase of LDH activity was found in the cells treated with 50.0 mg/L cholesterol. The NO level decreased in the cells treated by 25.0 or 50.0 mg/L cholesterol. When treated by cholesterol at dose of 6.25,12.5,25.0 or 50.0 mg/L respectively,the NOS activity was greatly decreased and MCP-1 protein was significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion Cholesterol of high concentration could directly injure the structure and partial function of VECs.