Abstract: Objective: To investigate the ameliorative effect of peptide AFYRW derived from tartary buckwheat protein against LPS-induced vascular endothelial injury. Methods: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce vascular endothelial injury in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay was used to detect the effect of AFYRW on cell proliferation. Western blot was used to evaluate the protein expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65. An enzymatic assay was used to detect the changes in the content of nitric oxide (NO). Monocyte adhesion assay was used to detect the adhesiveness of HUVECs. Results: Peptide AFYRW significantly increased the survival activity of cells, decreased the relative protein expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and iNOS, reduced the content of NO, inhibited LPS-induced adhesion of human monocyte THP-1 cells to HUVECs and suppressed the activity of NF-κB. Conclusion: Peptide AFYRW can ameliorate LPS-induced inflammation in HUVECs, which may be related to the inhibition of NF-κB activity.

Key words: inflammation; bioactive peptide; tartary buckwheat; lipopolysaccharide; human umbilical vein endothelial cells