Abstract The present study was designed to investigate the therapeutic effects of injection of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) into the balloon-injured carotid arteries on balloon injury-induced neointimal formation and to explore whether autophagy is involved in the action of DHA. Percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats to induce neointimal formation, immediately after which DHA (100 μmol/l×1 ml) and/or Rapamycin (1 mg/100 μl), were injected into the balloon-injured carotid arteries. After 14 d, the serum samples and carotid artery tissues were harvested for analysis. Rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were pretreated with DMSO (vehicle), DHA (1, 10, and 100 μmol/l), or 3-methyladenine (3-MA; 10 mM) for 1 h and then stimulated with plateletderived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB; 10 ng/ml) for another 24 h. Animal experiments showed that DHA attenuated the balloon injury-induced neointimal formation, inflammation and VSMC phenotypic transition by inhibiting the balloon injury-induced autophagy activation. In vitro results showed that DHA attenuated the PDGF-BB-induced VSMC phenotypic transition, proliferation, and migration by inhibiting the PDGF-BB-induced autophagy activation. Taken together, DHA ameliorates balloon injury-induced neointimal formation through suppressing autophagy. This study provides insights into the development of a drug-eluting stent using DHA.
Contribution of p62/SQSTM1 to PDGF-BB-induced myofibroblast-like phenotypic transition in vascular smooth muscle cells lacking Smpd1 gene
