Biomedical Research

Aims: This study is to investigate the role of miRNA-126 (miR-126) and resveratrol in vascular endothelial cells of hypertensive rats. .

Methods: Totally 30 male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were equally divided into 3 groups at random: SHR group, resveratrol treatment group and miR-126 knock-out group. Rat tail artery noninvasive blood pressure meter was applied to measure systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean blood pressure (MBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of the tail arteries. HE staining was applied to detect the vascular structural changes of mesenteric arteries. Chemical assay was applied to measure nitric oxide content in mesenteric arteries. qRT-PCR was applied to detect the expression of miR-126 in rat serum. Western blot was applied to detect the expression of VEGF in mesenteric arteries.

Results: The expression levels of miR-126 in serum were significantly decreased in miR-126 knock-out group and resveratrol treatment group, compared with SHR group (P<0.05). Compared with those in SHR group, the SBP, MBP and DBP were gradually decreased in miR-126 knock-out group after 13 weeks and in resveratrol treatment group rats after 6 weeks of administration (P<0.05). The vascular hypertrophy of mesenteric arteries, lumen stenosis, the wall-to-lumen area ratios (W/L) and wall thickness to lumen radius ratios (WT/LR) were significantly decreased (P<0.05). The nitric oxide contents in mesenteric arteries and the expression levels of VEGF in mesenteric arteries were significantly higher in resveratrol treatment group and miR-126 knock-out group rats (P<0.05).

Conclusions: MiR-126 knockout and resveratrol treatment can decrease blood pressure in hypertensive rats, and improve mesenteric vascular structures. This may be related to the promotion of NO production and VEGF expression.

Author(s): Guoqiang Liu, Hengli Li, Fengyong Yang, Yajing Wang, Junhao Zhang, Haichu Yu, Qixin Wang
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