Salvianolate inhibits proliferation and endothelin release in cultured rat mesangial cells

AIM: To study the effects of salvianolate, an aqueous extract of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, on the proliferation and endothelin release of cultured rat mesangial cells. METHODS: The proliferation of mesangial cells was determined in terms of [³H]thymidine uptake. The concentration of endothelin was measured by radioimmunoassay. The cytotoxicity of salvianolate was tested by tetrazolium (MTT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. RESULTS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 10 mg/L increased the proliferation and endothelin release in cultured mesangial cells. When mesangial cells pretreated with 3, 10, and 30 mg/L of salvianolate were incubated for 4 h with LPS, salvianolate exhibited a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on proliferation and endothelin levels in the mesangial cells induced by LPS. Furthermore, the increased basal levels of mesangial cells proliferation and the endothelin release were also effectively inhibited by salvianolate 30 mg/L at 4, 8, and 12 h. Besides, no cytotoxicity of salvianolate was observed. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that salvianolate can inhibit mesangial cells proliferation, which may be related to the decrease of endothelin release.