Influence of Shexiang Baoxin Pill on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Phenotypic Transformation

Objective: To observe the effects of Shexiang Baoxin Pill( SXBXP) of on the proliferation and phenotype transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Methods: The vascular smooth muscle cells line RASMC P8( VSMCs) were used as the cell model in this experiment. The cells were treated with SXBXP at the doses of 2. 0 g / L,respectively, and control cells were treated with the same volume of culture medium without SXBXP. The proliferation induced by SXBXP on VSMCS was measured by cell counting. The effect of SXBXP on the cell proliferation cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of α- smooth muscle actin( α- SMA) and the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain( SM-MHC) which served as specific molecular markers o f vascular smooth muscle contraction in RASMC P8 cells,was analyzed by flow cytometry. Result: Compared to control group,a certain dose of SXBXP effectively inhibited the proliferation of VSMCs by inhibiting the transition of the cell cycle from G1 phase to S phase. The percentages of α- SMA and SM-MH C negative cells in SXBXP treated groups were lower than those in control group. Meanwhile,the percentages of α-SMA and SM- MHC positive cells were increased in VSMCs treated with SXBXP,indicating that SXBXW prompted the transformation of RASMC P8 cells from synthetic to contractile phenotype. Conclusion: Chinese patent drug SXBXP played a role in transforming the cell phenotype from synthetic to the contraction in vascular smooth muscle. Therefore,SXBXP could effectively inhibit the proliferation of VSMCs.