Study on the effects of crocetin in improving lower limb ischemia in diabetes mellitus through Anti-inflammatory actions and promotion of angiogenesis
10.12092/j.issn.1009-2501.2025.07.004
- VernacularTitle:西红花酸通过抗炎促血管新生改善糖尿病下肢缺血作用研究
- Author:
Yunchao HUANG
1
;
Yiqiong WANG
;
Ting ZHANG
;
Jun ZHANG
;
Lan LI
;
Ling ZHANG
Author Information
1. 浙江中医药大学生命科学学院,杭州 310053,浙江
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
crocetin;
diabetic lower limb isch-emia;
inflammation;
angiogenesis
- From:
Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
2025;30(7):899-906
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
AIM:To investigate the therapeutic ef-fect of crocetin on diabetic lower limb ischemia and explore its underlying mechanism.METHODS:Male C57BL/6J mice aged 8 weeks were used to es-tablish a diabetic mouse model through intraperito-neal injection of streptozotocin(STZ).Following successful induction of diabetes,femoral artery li-gation(FAL)surgery was performed to create a model of diabetic lower limb ischemia.Fourteen days after STZ injection,the mice were treated with crocetin(3 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg)by gavage for 21 consecutive days.Post-FAL surgery,Doppler flowmetry was employed to assess blood flow in the mice of each group.Immunofluorescence stain-ing techniques were utilized to observe the expres-sion levels of platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule(CD31),α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),and inflammatory-related factors including tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1β(IL-1β),in-terleukin-6(IL-6),and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)in the gastrocnemius muscle of diabetic mice with lower limb ischemia.RESULTS:Com-pared to the normal group,the model group exhib-ited significantly elevated blood glucose levels and significantly reduced lower limb blood flow(P＜0.05).While CD31 and α-SMA expression showed no significant change,the expression levels of TNF-α,IL-1β,IL-6,and TGF-β were significantly in-creased(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.05,P＜0.05).Com-pared to the model group,crocetin-treated groups showed no significant change in blood glucose lev-els but demonstrated significantly increased lower limb blood flow(P＜0.05).The high-dose crocetin group(6 mg/kg)significantly enhanced CD31 andα-SMA expression(P＜0.0001,P＜0.05)and signifi-cantly reduced the expression levels of IL-1β,IL-6,and TGF-β(P＜0.001,P＜0.05,P＜0.05).CONCLU-SION:Crocetin may exert its beneficial effects on diabetic lower limb ischemia through anti-inflam-matory and angiogenic mechanisms.
