Palmitic acid induced vascular endothelial cell apoptosis contributes to the high severity of coronary artery disease in the Uygur population

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common heart disease in Chinese adults with high mortality rate. Compared to the Han patients, the disease degree is often severer in the Uygur patients with coronary artery disease. In this study, using metabonomic analysis, we found that there was elevated level of saturated fatty acid in the serum from the Uygur patients. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells cultured with 400 μmol/l palmitic acid for 48 hours led to a 69.4% cell apoptosis. The expression level and activity of caspase3 were increased after palmitic acid treatment. In addition, palmitic acid promoted the secretion of TNF-α, as well as elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation. Western blot analysis revealed that p-p38 level was raised during this process. Blocking p38 signal by inhibitor significantly attenuated the pro-apoptosis effects of palmitic acid, indicating a pivotal role of p38 pathway in this progression. These results provide some evidences for understanding the differences of disease degree between the Uygur and Han CAD patients.