Atovastatin downregulates TNF-α-induced expression of CD40L in human umbilical vein epithelial cells

We set out the study to poor the effect of atorvastatin(AT)on TNF-α-induced expression of CD40 Lin human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs),HUVECs cultured in vitro at passage 2to 3were used for experiment.The experimental targets were divided into five groups:1.The control group,2.The TNF-αgroup,(40ng/ml of TNF-αwere added to the culture medium),3.AT1 group,4.AT2 group and 5.AT3 group.In the last three groups additional sera containing respectively lower,middle and high concentration of AT were added to the medium.HUVECs were incubated for 6h,12hand24 h.The expression levels of CD40 Lprotein were detected by flow cytometry and expression of cellular protein CD40 Lwere examined by immunohistochemical staining.The expressional levels of CD40 Lprotein were obviously higher in the TNF-αgroup than in the control,AT2 and AT3groups at 24 hof incubation(P0.05).However,it was obviously lower in AT3 group than in the TNF-αgroup at 12 hand 24hof incubation(P0.05);Immunohistochemical staining showed that positive particles seen within the cell were reduced after pretreatment with AT of all concentrations.These results indicate that the down-regulation of TNF-αinduced CD40 Lby AT is dependent both on the incubation time and the concentration of AT.