Chlorogenic acid attenuates adhesion molecules upregulation in IL-1β-treated endothelial cells

Expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAM) on the endothelium and the attachment of monocytes to endothelium may play a major role in the early atherogenic process. Chlorogenic acid is a phenolic compound present in coffee, apples, pears, berries, almonds, artichokes, and aubergines. Previous studies have indicated that CA possesses antioxidant activity in vitro. We investigated the effects of chlorogenic acid and probucol on monocyte-like adhesion, adhesion molecule expression, NF-kappa B translocation and ROS production in IL-1 beta-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). According to the results of the MTT assay, we chose 25 and 50 mu mol/L to perform the experiments. Chlorogenic acid dose-dependently suppressed IL-1 beta-induced mRNA expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 and endothelial cell selectin. Chlorogenic acid also suppressed the IL-1 beta-induced production of ROS. We also observed that chlorogenic acid attenuated or blocked IL-1 beta-induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B subunits p50 and p65, which in turn attenuated CAM expression at the transcription level. Furthermore, chlorogenic acid significantly reduced the adhesion of human monocyte cells (U937) to IL-1 beta-treated HUVECs in a dose-response manner. These results are similar to that of probucol. We conclude that chlorogenic acid exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in HUVECs by inhibition of U937 monocyte-like adhesion, adhesion molecule expression, NF-kappa B translocation, and ROS production. The anti-inflammatory activity of chlorogenic acid in HUVECs suggests that chlorogenic acid could be useful in the prevention of atherosclerosis.