Methods: C57BL/6J mice were fed with chow diet (CD) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 12wks. Then Pg was infected from the pulp with or without oral administration of bLF and 6wks later aorta was analyzed histologically. In vitro, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HuhT1) were used to assess the effect of Pg-LPS and/or bLF treatment on free fatty acid (FFA)-induced endothelial dysfunction.
Results: Pg-infection deteriorated the damage of endothelium seen in HFD group. Pg invaded into the aortic media with higher invasion rate comparing to CD group (P<0.01). bLF reduced Pg in aortal wall through maintain the integrity of endothelium. In vitro, Pg highly invaded into FFA-treated HuhT1. bLF reduced it. Pg-LPS aggravated FFA-induced cytokines expression and apoptosis in HuhT1 and bLF-pretreatment improved them.
Conclusions: Therefore, there is a possibility that bLF can be used as a supplemental therapy to prevent the adverse effect of Pg to the endothelial dysfunction induced in obesity.