Effect of hydrogen peroxide to vascular smooth muscular cells

ObjectiveTo study the mechanism of hydrogen peroxide (H_2O_2) to rabbit vascular smooth muscle cells.MethodsRabbit vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were primarily cultured,and MTT assay was performed at different durations to detect the proliferative effect of H_2O_2 on VSMCs and to determine the concentration of H_2O_2 for further study.Cell cycles and apoptosis of VSMCs after being exposed to certain concentration of H_2O_2 were observed by flow cytometry.ResultsIn MTT assay,when H_2O_2 ≥100 μmol/L,only 1-h exposure could cause a significant decrease of A values ( P 0.01).In cell cycles detection,when H_2O_2 ≥100 μmol/L,after 24 h exposure,the percentage of VSMCs in stage G_1 was significantly increased as compared with controls (94.65% vs.79.97%, P 0.01),especially in group of 100 μmol/L H_2O_2.In Annexin V and PI double stain for apoptosis detection,as compared with controls,100 μmol/L H_2O_2 could produce time-dependent apoptosis of VSMCs ( P 0.01),and reached its peak value of 26.76% at 48 h.ConclusionH_2O_2 can significantly inhibit VSMCs proliferation while H_2O_2 ≥100 μmol/L.100 μmol/L of H_2O_2 had the effect of inducing apoptosis of VSMCs.