Objective To determine the effect of 6-shogaol on the proliferation in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and investigate its underlying mechanism. Methods VSMCs were isolated from the thoracic aorta of wild-type (WT
C57BL/6J background) and Toll-like receptor 4 knockout (TLR4
-/-
C57BL/6J background) mice. Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) was used to induce the proliferation in the obtained VSMCs. In order to observe the effect of TLR4 in VSMCs
LPS was a
dded to the medium of TLR4
-/-
and WT VSMCs respectively to activate TLR4
while TLR4 inhibitor
E5564 was used to inhibit the expression of TLR4. 6-shogaol was added to observe its effect on the proliferation and TLR4 expression in VSMCs. Results 6-shogaol inhibited the proliferation of VSMCs in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). Both PDGF and LPS activated TLR4 and promoted the cell proliferation (P<0.05)
but knockout of TLR4 gene suppressed the induced proliferation (P<0.05). 6-shogaol also inhabited the expression of TLR4 and its downstream protein
NF-κB (P<0.05). Conclusion 6-shogaol suppresses the proliferation in VSMCs via inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.