Ferulic acid inhibits H2O2-induced oxidative stress and inflammation in rat vascular smooth muscle cells via inhibition of the NADPH oxidase and NF-κB pathway

Abstract Ferulic acid (FA) is a dietary phenolic acid and has a wide range of therapeutic effects, including anti-aging, antitumor activity and antihypertensive effects. The aim of present study was to evaluate the inhibitory effects of FA on cell inflammation and oxidative stress against hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 )-induced injury in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vitro. VSMCs were pretreated with FA 2 h before H 2 O 2 incubation. The results suggested that FA inhibited H 2 O 2 -induced cell injury by reducing the MDA and increasing the SOD activity and GSH content. In rat VSMCs exposed to H 2 O 2 , FA increased the cell viability and restored the mitochondrial membrane depolarization. The level of ROS generation was reduced by pretreatment with FA through inhibiting the expression of NADPH oxidase and down-regulating MAPK and AKT pathways. We found that H 2 O 2 stimulated the production of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and NO, which could be reduced by pretreatment with FA through inhibiting the p-NF-κB as well as the iNOS expression. In conclusion, our results show that FA may serve as a novel drug in the treatment of these pathologies by inhibiting NADPH oxidase and NF-κB and subsequently decreasing VSMC oxidative stress and inflammation. These suggest that the inhibitory effect of FA on VSMC inflammation and oxidative stress is partially attributed to depressing NADPH and NF-κB expressions in VSMCs, decreasing the ROS production and reducing apoptosis of VSMCs.