Atorvastatin might resist tobacco smoking-induced endothelial inflammation through the inhibition of NF-κB signal pathway

Endothelial inflammation caused by tobacco smoking is widely considered as a pathogenic factor in many vascular diseases. Drugs such as atorvastatin were found to be an effective treatment in smoking-dependent vascular diseases, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism of atorvastatin resisting endothelial inflammation caused by tobacco smoking. Firstly, isolated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were divided into normal control group, cigarette smoking extract (CSE) group, and atorvastatin (AS)+CSE group. Then the expressions of inflammatory factors (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin) and nuclear transcription factor kappa (NF-κB) in HUVECs were detected by western blot after separate treatments. The results showed that the expressions of VCAM-1, E-selectin, and NF-κB in CSE group were significantly higher than the other two groups (P< 0.05). We also found that the expressions of VCAM-1, E-selectin, and NF-κB in CSE + atorvastatin group were a little higher than the normal control group (P< 0.05). Our results showed that atorvastatin might partly resist tobacco smoking-induced endothelial inflammation through the inhibition of NF-κB signal pathway.