Effects of phytoestrogen α-zearalanol on hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in HUVECs

AIM:To investigate the effects of phytoestrogen α-zearalanol (ZAL) on hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury and mechanism involved in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). METHODS:HUVECs were exposed to hypoxia for 3 hours and then reoxygenation 1 hour. ZAL or 17β-estradiol (E₂) at concentrations of 10-9-10-6 mol/L were pretreated before hypoxia. The survival rate of HUVECs was detected by MTT. Either the activities of LDH and SOD or the level of MDA in supernatant was detected by spectrophotometry. RESULTS:The survival rate of HUVECs and the activity of SOD were significantly decreased (P<0.01), while the activity of LDH and the level of MDA were significantly increased (P<0.01) after H/R. These changes were reversed by pretreatment with ZAL or E₂, and there was no significant difference between their effects in the same dose of ZAL and E₂. CONCLUSION:These results suggest that phytoestrogen ZAL protects HUVECs from H/R injury by inhibiting the oxidative stress, which was similar to E₂.