Acarbose

Cell experiment:

Cell viability is determined using the MTT assay. Cells are seeded in 24-well culture plates at a density of 2×104 cells/well, incubated for 48 h, treated with acarbose at varying concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 5.0 μM) for 24 h; or pre-treated with TNF-α (20 ng/mL) for either 24 h or 48 h to evaluate the dose-dependent effects of acarbose on VSMC growth and viability, cultured with 0.5 mg/mL MTT at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 for another 4 h, and solubilized with isopropanol. The viable cell number varies directly with the concentration of formazan product measured spectrophotometrically at 563 nm.

Animal experiment:

Twenty-four male New Zealand white rabbits, weighing 2500 g are used. They are individually housed in metal cages in an air-conditioned room (22 ± 2°C, 55 ± 5% humidity), under a 12 h light/12 h dark cycle with free access to food and water. All rabbits are randomLy assigned to four groups of 6 animals each and are fed either standard chow (Group I), high cholesterol diet (HCD; containing 95.7% standard Purina chow + 3% lard oil + 0.5% cholesterol) (Group II), HCD diet and 2.5 mg/kg per day acarbose (Group III), or HCD diet and 5.0 mg/kg per day acarbose (Group IV). At the end of the 25 weeks, all rabbits are sacrificed by exsanguination under deep anesthesia with pentobarbital (30 mg/kg i.v.) injected via the marginal ear vein. Serum is stored at −80°C prior to measurement of serum values. The aortic arch and thoracic aortas are carefully removed to protect the endothelial lining, and are collected and freed of adhering soft tissue.

References:

[1]. Zhang Q, et al. Acarbose Reduces Blood Glucose by Activating miR-10a-5p and miR-664 in Diabetic Rats. PLoS One. 2013 Nov 18;8(11):e79697.
[2]. Chan KC, et al. Pleiotropic effects of acarbose on atherosclerosis development in rabbits are mediated via upregulating AMPK signals. Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 7;6:3864