Inhibitory effects and mechanism of ursolic acid on the proliferation of rat aortic smooth muscle cells.

Aim:To observe the effect of ursolic acid(UA)on the proliferation of rat vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMC)induced by high-level glucose and explore its relationship with p38MAPK signal transduction pathway.Methods:The proliferation of VSMC induced by high-level glucose(25 mmol/L glucose)was adopted as model,the inhibition of UA on the proliferation of VSMC was measured by MTT assay,and the expression levels of phospho-p38MAPK was detected by cell-based ELISA as well as the expression of c-fos protein was examined by SABC method.Results:UA(20 μmol/L and 40 μmol/L)inhibited glucose-induced proliferation of VSMC(P0.05).Compared with the group subjected to glucose induction,UA decreased the expression levels of phosphorylated p38MAPK(P0.05),and also inhibited c-fos expression.Conclusion:UA suppressed glucose induced proliferation of VSMC,which might be related to the suppression of the activation of p38MAPK signal transduction pathway,and thereby down-regulated c-fos expression.