Figure 7.

Effect of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were preincubated with AS-IV (30 µmol/L) or sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 30 µmol/L) in the presence or absence of N^G-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, 1 mmol/L), LY294002 (10 µmol/L), or ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA, 500 nmol/L) for 1 h and then incubated with Ang II (1 µmol/L) for an additional 6 h and subsequently coincubated with fluorescence-stained human monocytes for 30 min. (A) Representative photomicrographs of fluorescence-labeled human monocyte adhesion to HUVECs. Magnification, ×200. HUVECs were incubated with vehicle (control) (a) or Ang II alone (b) and in the presence of AS-IV (c), L-NMMA (d), LY294002 (e), EGTA (f), or SNP (g) before coincubation with fluorescence-stained human monocytes. (B) Fluorescence intensity of human monocytes was determined by the use of a spectrofluorometer. ⁣^∗p < 0.05 compared with the control group; †p < 0.05 compared with HUVECs exposed to Ang II in the presence of AS-IV.