The antioxidative and hypolipidemic effects of barley leaf essence (BL) were investigated in a rabbit model of atherosclerosis. Twenty-four New Zealand White male rabbits were assigned randomly into four dietary groups. The normal group was fed regular rabbit chow and the control group was fed a chow containing 0.5% cholesterol and 10% corn oil. The BL group and the probucol group were fed the ...

Previous studies have established that low density lipoprotein (LDL) incubated with endothelial cells (EC) undergoes extensive oxidative modification in structure and that the modified LDL is specifically recognized by the acetyl LDL receptor of the macrophage. Thus, in principle, EC-modified LDL could contribute to foam cell formation during atherogenesis. Oxidatively modified LDL is also pote...

There is increasing evidence suggesting that endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) plays an important role in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to examine the effect of probucol on cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) injured by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) and the potential mechanisms involving ERS. Injured HUVECs induced by Na2S2O4 serv...

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of Xuezhikang Capsules (ZXKC) and probucol on blood lipids, vascular endothelial functions and redox status in patients with coronary heart disease. METHODS One hundred and twelve patients with coronary heart disease were randomly divided into XZKC-treated group and probucol-treated group, 56 in each. Before and after 8-week treatment, the blood levels of tota...

Lipoprotein-associated cholesterol has been suggested to make a significant contribution to adrenal steroidogenesis in vivo. To determine whether lipoproteins indeed contribute to optimal adrenal steroidogenesis in mice, in the current study we have determined the effect of relative lipoprotein deficiency on adrenal steroidogenesis in C57BL/6 wild-type mice. Feeding C57BL/6 mice the lipid-lower...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by synaptic loss and cognitive impairments. The presence of extracellular senile plaques (mainly composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide) is an important molecular hallmark in AD and neuronal damage has been attributed, at least in part, to Aβ-mediated toxicity. Although the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AD...

Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is thought to contribute to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Consistent with this idea, the antioxidant drug probucol reduces the risk of restenosis, a form of cardiovascular disease, in humans. However, a new study now suggests that the protective effect of probucol depends not on its ability to inhibit lipid oxidation, but on its ability t...

Directional Coronary Atherectomy To the Editor: The negative results obtained with carvedilol in the European Carvedilol Atherectomy Restenosis (EUROCARE) trial led Serruys et al1 to question the value of antioxidants for the prevention of restenosis after coronary angioplasty. An important flaw in study design, however, invalidates the conclusions reached by the authors. The antioxidant probuc...