the effect of cis and trans vaccenic acids on expression of icam-1 and vcam-1 in human microvascular endothelial cells (hmec)

trans-fatty acids (tfa) are known as a risk factor for coronary artery diseases. trans-11 vaccenic acid [va; 18:1(n-9)], known as the major trans fatty acid in milk fat, is a positional and geometric isomer of oleic acid and a precursor of conjugated linoleic acid (cla) in human . this study was carried out in order to investigate the effect of cis and trans vaccenic acids on expression of intra cellular adhesion molecul-1 (icam-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecul-1 (vcam-1) in human microvascular endothelial cells (hmecs). to induce adhesion molecules expression, tnf-α or lps were added to hmecs in a cell culture being treated with cis and trans vaccenic acid.  in the next step, to evaluate icam-1 and vcam-1 expression before and after the treatment, western blot technique was used. the analyzed results indicated that cis and trans vaccenic acids are able to suppress vcam-1 and icam-1 expression on hmec near to the basal level. also it has been found that cis vaccenic acid isomer could suppress both vcam-1 and icam-1 expression as well as trans isomer. together all and considering the role of mentioned adhesion molecules in atherosclerosis; it seems that cis and trans vaccenic acids could be a possible prophylaxis agents in populations with high risk of atherosclerosis.