Edaravone, a Radical Scavenger, May Enhance or Produce Antiproliferative Effects of Fluvastatin, Amlodipine, Ozagrel, GF109203X and Y27632 on Cultured Basilar Artery Smooth Muscle Cells

Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells stimulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. To clarify mechanisms by which ROS promote vascular atherogenesis, effects of fluvastatin, amlodipine, ozagrel (thromboxane synthetase inhibitor), GF109203X (a protein kinase C inhibitor) and Y27632 (a ROCK inhibitor) on the proliferation of guinea-pig basilar artery smooth muscle cells (GBa-SM3) in a 5% FBS culture medium were studied over 3 d in the presence or absence of a free radical scavenger, edaravone. Viability of cells at the end of incubation was measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test. Results demonstrated that fluvastatin and amlodipine by themselves possess antiproliferative effects on the GBa-SM3 cells at 10—100 μM and 0.1—1 μM, respectively. While edaravone possessed no antiproliferative effect by itself at 100 μM, it significantly (p