Puerarin Reduces Radiation-Induced Vascular Endothelial Cell Damage Via miR-34a/Placental Growth Factor

Chang Liu; Ying Zhao; Xiaoting Xu; Lei Zhang; Fengmei Cui; Qiu Chen; Hongxia Li; Ru Sang; Gen Li; Yongming He

doi:10.1177/15593258211068649

Puerarin Reduces Radiation-Induced Vascular Endothelial Cell Damage Via miR-34a/Placental Growth Factor

Dose Response. 2022 Jan 19;20(1):15593258211068649. doi: 10.1177/15593258211068649. eCollection 2022 Jan-Mar.

Authors

Chang Liu^{1

2}, Ying Zhao², Xiaoting Xu³, Lei Zhang¹, Fengmei Cui², Qiu Chen², Hongxia Li¹, Ru Sang³, Gen Li², Yongming He^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
³ Department of Radiotherapy & Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.

Abstract

The aim is to explore the protective effects of Puerarin on radiation-induced vascular endothelial cell damage and its underlying mechanism. The apoptosis and DNA damage of Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to radiation alone or in combination with glucose in the exposed group were significantly elevated (P < .05) compared with those in the control group. The Puerarin-treated HUVECs showed significant reduction in the radiation-induced apoptosis and DNA damage (P < .05). Furthermore, X-ray irradiation significantly increased the expression of miR-34a, which was reversed by pre-treatment with Puerarin. Placental Growth Factor (PLGF) was a target gene of miR-34a. The expression of PLGF in the peripheral blood of patients receiving radiotherapy significantly increased with an increase in the cumulative dose of radiation (P < .05), after which it began to decrease at the fourth week (P < .05) and then remained at a low level until the end of radiotherapy. Puerarin exerts a radioprotective effect by decreasing DNA damage and apoptosis through miR-34a-targeted PLGF.

Keywords: human umbilical vascular endothelial cells; miR-34a; placental growth factor; puerarin; radiation.