PMID- 34733931
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220428
IS  - 2305-5839 (Print)
IS  - 2305-5847 (Electronic)
IS  - 2305-5839 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 17
DP  - 2021 Sep
TI  - Artesunate attenuates foam cell formation by enhancing cholesterol efflux.
PG  - 1379
LID - 10.21037/atm-21-3551 [doi]
LID - 1379
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of many cardiovascular diseases and 
      the second leading cause of death in elderly people. The formation of intimal 
      macrophage-derived foam cells is a major feature of early atherosclerotic 
      lesions. Little is known about the effects of artesunate (ART) on 
      macrophage-derived foam cell formation. METHODS: Oil red O staining was employed 
      to detect foam cell formation; colorimetric analysis was employed for cholesterol 
      measurement; quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and 
      western blot analysis were employed to assess messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein 
      expression, respectively; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses were 
      used to observe interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release; 
      and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays 
      were used to examine cell viability. RESULTS: It was revealed that ART attenuated 
      oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-induced foam cell formation from 
      THP-1-derived macrophages by decreasing cholesterol accumulation, and the effect 
      might have occurred via enhanced cholesterol efflux. Additionally, ART decreased 
      toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression, increased adenosine triphosphate 
      (ATP)-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and ATP-binding cassette 
      transporter G1 (ABCG1) expression, and reduced the secretion of IL-6 and TNF-alpha. 
      CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that ART attenuated the ox-LDL-induced formation 
      of foam cells from THP-1-derived macrophages by increasing ABCA1 and ABCG1 
      expression via inhibiting TLR4 expression and reducing TNF-alpha and IL-6 secretion 
      from macrophages induced by ox-LDL, which ultimately decreased the accumulation 
      of cholesterol. It is worthwhile further investigate ART as a potential drug for 
      the treatment of atherosclerosis.
CI  - 2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.
FAU - Qian, Yan
AU  - Qian Y
AD  - Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical 
      University, Chongqing, China.
FAU - Xia, Li
AU  - Xia L
AD  - Department of Liver Disease, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, 
      Chongqing, China.
FAU - Wei, Lai
AU  - Wei L
AD  - Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical 
      University, Chongqing, China.
FAU - Jiang, Weiwei
AU  - Jiang W
AD  - Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical 
      University, Chongqing, China.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - China
TA  - Ann Transl Med
JT  - Annals of translational medicine
JID - 101617978
PMC - PMC8506543
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Artesunate (ART)
OT  - atherosclerosis
OT  - cholesterol efflux
OT  - foam cell
COIS- Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure 
      form (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-21-3551). The authors have no 
      conflicts of interest to declare.
EDAT- 2021/11/05 06:00
MHDA- 2021/11/05 06:01
PMCR- 2021/09/01
CRDT- 2021/11/04 06:28
PHST- 2021/06/07 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/08/11 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/11/04 06:28 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/11/05 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/11/05 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2021/09/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - atm-09-17-1379 [pii]
AID - 10.21037/atm-21-3551 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Ann Transl Med. 2021 Sep;9(17):1379. doi: 10.21037/atm-21-3551.