Effects of Levistilide A on Hemorheology and Endothelial Cell Injury in Rats with Blood Stasis

Background. Vascular endothelial cell injury is not only the initiating factor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases but also the essence of blood stasis. Levistilide A (LA), a natural component isolated from the traditional Chinese herb, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, has traditional effects on improving blood circulation and removing stasis. In this study, the effects and potential mechanisms of LA in the rat model of blood stasis and the mechanism in endothelial cell injury have been explored. Materials and Methods. In this experiment, the effects of LA on the model of acute blood stasis in rats were explored. The blood samples were collected for the measurement of coagulation and hemorheological indices, and the carotid arteries were also excised from rats for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC). In addition, the improvement effects of LA on the H2O2-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) injury model were evaluated. And the cell viability detection was conducted by the CCK8 assay, and the pathway-related protein expressions were detected by western blotting. Results. In vivo, compared with the model group, the treatment of LA (10 mg/kg) could reduce the FIB (fibrinogen) content (P