摘要：Introduction: Cardiovascular disorders (CVD) are a common cause of mortality worldwide. Oxidative stress is thought to be a major factor leading to CVD. Anti-oxidants such as medicinal plants may have a role in the mitigation of vascular problems through free radicals scavenging. In this study, we evaluated the protective effects of Rheum turkestanicum against hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2)-induced toxicity in endothelial cells (BAE-1). Methods: To evaluate the protective effect of R. turkestanicum against H 2O 2 toxicity, four groups comprised of control group (the cells without any treatment), H 2O 2 group (the cells incubated with H 2O 2 (200 μM)), and treatment groups (the cells treated with R. turkestanicum (12200 μg/ml) alone or 24h before exposure to H 2O 2). Quercetin (30.23 μg/ml) was used as a bioactive ingredient of the extract. Then the cell viability, reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and apoptosis were evaluated. Results: H 2O 2 exposure reduced cell viability to 13.6 ± 1.6%, enhanced ROS generation to 1445 ± 80.7%, lipid peroxidation (LPO, 290 ± 13% of control), and apoptotic cells ( P 0.001). In contrast, compared with H 2O 2 group, R. turkestanicum and quercetin significantly restored the cell viability to 80.3 ± 1.6 and 87.2 ± 2.1%, ROS formation to 186 ± 10 and 129 ± 1%, as well as LPO to 130.7 ± 7.7 and 116 ± 2.5 of control, respectively ( P 0.001). Therefore, the extract reduced H 2O 2-induced toxicity in BAE-1 cells by scavenging of free radicals. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that the extract might reduce toxicity of endothelial cells by attenuation of oxidative stress, which can be related to the presence of active ingredients including quercetin.
