Salidroside protects pulmonary artery endothelial cells against hypoxia-induced apoptosis via the AhR/NF-κB and Nrf2/HO-1 pathways

•PAECs injury is the trigger for the development of pulmonary hypertension.•Molecular docking and surface plasmon resonance are used to confirm that the active compound salidroside from Rhodiola can effectively bind to the AhR.•For the first time, we demonstrated the mechanism by which salidroside on PAECs is associated with inhibition of AhR nuclear translocation.•Salidroside can protect PAECs from hypoxic injury through the AhR/NF-κB and Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathways.