Abstract: Endothelial cell death due to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) may contribute to the initial endothelial injury, which promotes atherosclerotic lesion formation. Piper sarmentosum (PS), a natural product, has been shown to have an antioxidant property, which is hypothesized to inhibit production of ROS and prevent cell injury. Thus, the present study was designed to determine the effects of PS on the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative cell damage in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). In this experiment, HUVECs were obtained by collagenase perfusion of the large vein in the umbilical cord and cultured in medium M200 supplemented with low serum growth supplementation (LSGS). HUVECs were treated with various concentrations of H₂O₂ (0–1000 µmol/L) and it was observed that 180 µmol/L H₂O₂ reduced cell viability by 50% as denoted by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Using the above concentration as the positive control, the H₂O₂-induced HUVECs were concomitantly treated with various concentrations (100, 150, 250 and 300 µg/ml) of three different extracts (aqueous, methanol and hexane) of PS. Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) levels showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in HUVECs compared to the negative control. However, PS extracts showed a protective effect on HUVECs from H₂O₂-induced cell apoptosis with a significant reduction in MDA, SOD, CAT and GPX levels (P<0.05). Furthermore, PS had exhibited ferric reducing antioxidant power with its high phenolic content. Hence, it was concluded that PS plays a beneficial role in reducing oxidative stress in H₂O₂-induced HUVECs.

Key words: Piper sarmentosum, Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), Malondialdehyde, Oxidative stress, Antioxidant enzymes

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