Ginsenoside Re (GS-Re) is one of the main ingredients of ginseng， a widely known Chinese traditional medicine， and has a variety of beneficial effects， including vasorelaxation， antioxidative， anti-inflammatory， and anticancer properties. The aims of the present study were to observe the effect of GS-Re on balloon injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia in the arteries and to investigate the mechanisms underlying this effect. A rat vascular neointimal hyperplasia model was generated by rubbing the endothelium of the common carotid artery (CCA) with a balloon， and GS-Re (12.5， 25 or 50 mg/kg/d) were subsequently continuously administered to the rats by gavage for 14 days. After GS-Re treatment，... More
Ginsenoside Re (GS-Re) is one of the main ingredients of ginseng， a widely known Chinese traditional medicine， and has a variety of beneficial effects， including vasorelaxation， antioxidative， anti-inflammatory， and anticancer properties. The aims of the present study were to observe the effect of GS-Re on balloon injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia in the arteries and to investigate the mechanisms underlying this effect. A rat vascular neointimal hyperplasia model was generated by rubbing the endothelium of the common carotid artery (CCA) with a balloon， and GS-Re (12.5， 25 or 50 mg/kg/d) were subsequently continuously administered to the rats by gavage for 14 days. After GS-Re treatment， the vessel lumen of injured vessels showed significant increases in the GS-Re 25.0 and 50.0 mg/kg/d (intermediate- and high-dose) groups according to H.E. staining. Additionally， a reduced percentage of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells and an increased number of SM α-actin-positive cells were detected， and the levels of NO， cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)， and eNOS mRNA as well as the phos-eNOS/eNOS protein ratio were obviously upregulated in the intermediate- and high-dose groups. Moreover， the promotive effects of GS-Re on NO and eNOS expression were blocked by L-NAME treatment to different degrees. These results suggested that GS-Re can suppress balloon injury-induced vascular neointimal hyperplasia by inhibiting VSMC proliferation， which is closely related to the activation of the eNOS/NO/cGMP pathway.
