Chronic vascular inflammation, induced by pathogenic bacterial or viral infection, or non-pathogenic factors such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol) plays an important part in the development of atherosclerosis and related conditions. In the process of vascular inflammation the vascular endothelial cells form a monolayer covering the inner surface of the blood vessels, which plays an important role in regulation. Curcuminoids have been extensively investigated for their antiinflammatory activity, however, the involvement of microRNAs in this activity is not well understood.
In this article by Susanne Mertens-Talcott and co-workers in the US, the antiinflammatory effects of curcuminoids has been investigated. The protective effects of standardized curcuminoid extract (SCE) on vascular inflammation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was studied and the mechanistic involvement of microRNAs in their antiinflammatory activity was assessed. Inflammation was induced by Escherichia coli lipopolysacharides and it was shown that curcuminoids protect HUVEC from inflammation-induced TLR-4 signalling and expression of cell adhesion molecules through mechanisms not involving microRNA-146a or microRNA-126.
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Standardized curcuminoid extract (Curcuma longa l.) decreases gene expression related to inflammation and interacts with associated microRNAs 1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), Gabriela Angel-Morales, Giuliana Noratto and Susanne Mertens-Talcott, Food Funct., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2fo30023k
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