Carvedilol inhibits tumor necrosis factor-α-induced endothelial transcription factor activation, adhesion molecule expression, and adhesiveness to human mononuclear cells

Objective - We tested the hypothesis that carvedilol, a beta-adrenoceptor and alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist with potent antioxidant property, could inhibit tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced endothelial adhesiveness to human mononuclear cells (MNCs), an early sign of atherogenesis. Methods and Results - Circulating MNCs were isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. Compared with control condition, pretreatment of carvedilol ( 10 mumol/L for 18 hours) or probucol ( 5 mumol/L for 18 hours), but not propanolol, prazosin, or both propanolol and prazosin significantly decreased TNF-alpha-stimulated adhesiveness of cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) to MNCs. Carvedilol inhibited TNF-alpha-stimulated endothelial vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin (66.0 +/- 2.0% and 55.60 +/- 1.0% of control, P < 0.05, respectively) expression, whereas probucol inhibited only VCAM-1 expression (79.0 +/- 5.0% of control, P < 0.05). Propanolol, prazosin, or both did not alter the expression of adhesion molecules. Further, pretreatment with carvedilol significantly inhibited TNF-alpha-stimulated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the activation of redox sensitive nuclear factor kappa B and activator protein-1 transcription pathways. Conclusions - Carvedilol reduced TNF-alpha-stimulated endothelial adhesiveness to human MNCs by inhibiting intracellular ROS production, transcription factor activation, and VCAM-1 as well as E-selectin expression, suggesting its potential role in clinical atherosclerosis disease.