Effect of homocysteine on expressions of NFª²¦ÊB and protooncogene in balloonª²injured rat carotid arteries

    XU Huiª²Pu, LIU Changª²Mei, FENG Yiª²Bai

    1Department of Cardiology, 2Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical College, Binzhou 256603, China, 3Institute of Cardiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan 430022, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To study the effect of homocysteine (Hcy) on the expressions of nuclear factorª²¦ÊB (NFª²¦ÊB) P65 protein and cª²fos, cª²jun mRNA in common carotid artery of rats after balloon injury and to explore the possible mechanism by which homocysteine exacerbates neointimal hyperplasia after angioplasty. METHODS: The expressions of NFª²¦ÊB P65 protein and cª²fos and cª²jun mRNA were detected by Western blot and semiª²quantitative RTª²PCR respectively in the common carotid artery. RESULTS: The expressions of NFª²¦ÊB P65 protein and cª²fos and cª²jun mRNA were significantly higher in low methionine (LM) group(1.12¡À0.13, 1.40¡À0.21, 1.43¡À0.25)(P<0.05) and high methionine (HM) group(1.50¡À0.37, 1.68¡À0.27, 1.71¡À0.30)(P<0.01)than those in control group(0.64¡À0.06, 1.10¡À0.15, 1.00¡À0.13). The expressions of NFª²¦ÊB P65 protein and cª²fos, cª²jun mRNA were also significant higher in HM group than those in LM group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Homocysteine may upª²regulate the transcription of cª²fos and cª²jun mRNA in common carotid artery after balloon angioplasty by NFª²¦ÊB pathway, which may be responsible for neointimal hyperplasia induced by homocysteine after angioplasty. ......