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Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new pharmaceutical compound esterified by aspirin and eugenol, which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other pharmacological activities. This study is aimed at identifying the protective effect of AEE against H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis in rat adrenal pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and the possible mechanisms. The results of cell viability assay showed that AEE could increase the viability of PC12 cells stimulated by H 2 O 2 , while AEE alone had no significant effect on the viability of PC12 cells. Compared with the control group, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were significantly decreased, and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly increased in the H 2 O 2 group. By AEE pretreatment, the level of MDA was reduced and the levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px were increased in H 2 O 2 -stimulated PC12 cells. In addition, AEE could reduce the apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by H 2 O 2 via reducing superoxide anion, intracellular ROS, and mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) and increasing the levels of mitochondrial membrane potential ( ΔΨ m). Furthermore, the results of western blotting showed that compared with the control group, the expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, and Bcl-2 was significantly decreased, while the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax was significantly increased in the H 2 O 2 group. In the AEE group, AEE pretreatment could upregulate the expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt, and Bcl-2 and downregulate the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax in PC12 cells stimulated with H 2 O 2 . The silencing of PI3K with shRNA and its inhibitor-LY294002 could abrogate the protective effect of AEE in PC12 cells. Therefore, AEE has a protective effect on H 2 O 2 -induced PC12 cells by regulating the PI3K/Akt signal pathway to inhibit oxidative stress., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Zhen-Dong Zhang et al.)

Paraquat (PQ) is an effective and commercially important herbicide that is widely used worldwide. However, PQ is highly toxic and can cause various complications and acute organ damage. Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a potential new compound with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant stress pharmacological activity. The present study was to reveal the therapeutic effects and the protective effect of AEE against PQ-induced acute lung injury (ALI) with the help of PQ-induced oxidative damage in A549 cells and PQ-induced lung injury in rats. AEE might have no significant therapeutic effect on PQ-induced lung injury in rats. However, AEE had a significant protective effect on PQ-induced lung injury in rats. AEE pretreatment significantly reduced the stimulatory effect of PQ on malondialdehyde (MDA), the inhibitory effect of PQ on catalase (CAT) activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, the ratio of GSH/GSSH, the activity of caspase-3 and the overexpression of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation in vivo. In vitro, A549 cells were treated with 250 μM PQ for 24 h. Incubation of A549 cells with PQ led to apoptosis, and increased the level of superoxide anions, reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde and the activity of caspase-3 and up-regulation of phosphorylated p38-MAPK, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and the activity of SOD. However, after 24 h on AEE pretreatment of A549 cells, the above-mentioned adverse reactions caused by PQ were significantly alleviated. In addition, AEE pretreatment reduced p38-MAPK phosphorylation in PQ-treated A549 cells. SB203580, the specific p38-MAPK inhibitor, and p38-MAPK shRNA attenuated the activation of the p38-MAPK signaling pathway. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced the level of phosphorylated p38-MAPK and the production of intracellular ROS and inhibited apoptosis. The results showed that AEE may inhibit PQ-induced cell damage through ROS/p38-MAPK-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The oxidative stress of vessel endothelium is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disorders. Antioxidative stress drugs are widely used in cardiovascular therapy. Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new pharmaceutical compound synthesized by esterification reaction of aspirin with eugenols and possesses antioxidative activity. The present study was designed to investigate the mechanism how AEE protects human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) from H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress. H 2 O 2 was given to the HUVECs with or without AEE pretreatment. Changes in the oxidative stress-related factors, including those related to the mitochondria-lysosome axis, were determined with Western blotting, cellular immunofluorescence, and enzyme activity test. The results showed that, in the HUVECs, 300  μ M H 2 O 2 treatment significantly increased the apoptosis rate, MDA concentration, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential, expression of Bax and mature cathepsin D (CTSD), and activity of CTSD and Caspase3 (Cas3) but decreased the expression of Bcl2 and lysosomal membrane stability, while in the HUVECs pretreated with AEE, the above changes caused by either the stimulatory or the inhibitory effect of H 2 O 2 on the relevant factors were significantly reduced. AEE pretreatment significantly enhanced the activity of cellular superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the HUVECs. Our findings suggest that AEE effectively reduced H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress in the HUVECs via mitochondria-lysosome axis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Mei-Zhou Huang et al.)

Background and Purpose: Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new drug compound synthesized by combining aspirin with eugenol. It was reported to possess anti-thrombotic, anti-atherosclerotic, and anti-oxidative effects. However, its molecular mechanism against oxidative injury is unclear. This study investigated how AEE affected the oxidative injury of vascular endothelial cells in vivo and in vitro., Experimental Approach: A hamster model of atherosclerosis induced by a high fat diet (HFD) and an in vitro model of oxidative stress, H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis of HUVECs, were used to investigate the anti-oxidative effects of AEE., Key Results: AEE significantly reduced the stimulatory effect of HFD on malondialdehyde, the inhibitory effect of HFD on SOD activity and GSH/GSSG ratio, and the overexpression of inducible NOS (iNOS) in the aorta. In vitro, incubation of HUVECs with H 2 O 2 led their apoptosis, dysfunctions of the NO systems (including increased iNOS activity, decreased endothelial NOS activity, and increased production of NO), an imbalance in calcium homeostasis and energy metabolism with an increase in intracellular free calcium and decrease in ATP, and a down-regulation of Nrf2. In contrast, in the HUVECs pretreated with 1 μM AEE for 24 hr, the above adverse effects induced by H 2 O 2 were significantly ameliorated. Moreover, the decrease in NO production and activity of iNOS induced by AEE was significantly attenuated in Nrf2-inhibited HUVECs., Conclusion and Implication: AEE protects vascular endothelial cells from oxidative injury by regulating NOS and Nrf2 signalling pathways. This suggests that AEE is a novel potential agent for the prevention of atherosclerosis., (© 2019 The British Pharmacological Society.)

Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new potential drug with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant stress pharmacological activity. Paraquat (PQ) is an effective and commercially important herbicide that is widely used worldwide. However, paraquat is highly toxic and can cause various complications and acute organ damage, such as liver, kidney and lung damage. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether AEE has a protective effect on hepatotoxicity induced by PQ in vivo and in vitro. Cell viability, apoptosis rate, mitochondrial function and intracellular oxidative stress were detected to evaluate the protective effect of AEE on PQ-induced BRL-3A (normal rat hepatocytes) cytotoxicity in vitro. In vivo , AEE pretreatment could attenuate oxidative stress and histopathological changes in rat liver induced by PQ. The results showed that AEE could reduce the hepatotoxicity induced by PQ in vivo and in vitro. AEE reduced PQ-induced hepatotoxicity by inhibitingoxidative stress and maintaining mitochondrial function. This study proved that AEE is an effective antioxidant and can reduce the hepatotoxicity of PQ. AEE reduced PQ-induced hepatotoxicity by inhibiting oxidative stress and maintaining mitochondrial function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspirin eugenol ester (AEE) is a new potential pharmaceutical compound possessing anti-inflammatory, anti-cardiovascular disease, and antioxidative stress activity. The pharmacological activities of AEE are partly dependent on its regulation of cell apoptosis. However, it is still unclear how AEE inhibits cell apoptosis on the basis of its antioxidative stress effect. This study aimed to reveal the vascular antioxidative mechanism of AEE in response to H2O2-induced oxidative stress in HUVECs and paraquat-induced oxidative stress in rats. In the different intervention groups of HUVECs and rats, the expression of ASK1, ERK1/2, SAPK/JNK, and p38 and the phosphorylation levels of ERK1/2, SAPK/JNK, and p38 were measured. The effects of ASK1 and ERK1/2 on the anti-apoptotic activity of AEE in the oxidative stress model were probed using the corresponding inhibitors ASK1 and ERK1/2. The results showed that in the HUVECs, 200 μM H2O2 treatment significantly increased the phosphorylation of SAPK/JNK and the level of ASK1 but decreased the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, while in the HUVECs pretreated with AEE, the H2O2-induced changes were significantly ameliorated. The findings were observed in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, inhibition of ASK1 and ERK1/2 showed that ASK1 plays a vital role in the protective effect of AEE on H2O2-induced apoptosis. All findings suggested that AEE protects the vascular endothelium from oxidative injury by mediating the ASK1 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]