Atorvastatin inhibited HUVECs apoptosis induced by Hcy involving a MAPK mechanism. (A) Cells were pre-incubated with the p38 inhibitor, SB203580 (10 μmol/L) for 30 min before the addition of 1 mmol/L Hcy for 24 h and apoptosis cells were counted. (B) Cells were stimulated with different concentrations of Hcy (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, and 10 mmol/L) for 30 min. (C) Cells were stimulated with 1 mmol/L Hcy for 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min, respectively. (D) Effects of atorvastatin, DPI, NAC, and SB203580 on the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK induced by Hcy. After treatment with atorvastatin (10 μmol/L), DPI (10 μmol/L), NAC (1 mmol/L), and 203580 (10 μmol/L) for 30 min, the cells were stimulated by Hcy (1 mmol/L) for 30 min or not. The blots show representative immunoblots of the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and the graphs show the quantification of the bands by densitometry. Date are normalized with β-actin so that value of the control group is regarded as 1.0. Values are expressed as means±SD from three separate experiments. bP<0.05, cP<0.01 vs untreated cells. eP<0.05, fP<0.01 vs only 1 mmol/L Hcy-treated cells. Ator: atorvastatin; Hcy, homocysteine.