ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the potential effects of disogenin on macrophage cholesterol metabolism and the development of aortic atherosclerosis, and to explore its underlying mechanisms. It demonstrates that Dgn enhances Adult Treatment Panel -binding cassette transporter A1 dependent cholesterol efflux and inhibits aortic atherosclerosis progression by suppressing macrophage miR-19b expression. The chapter explores the dose-dependent effect of disogenin on high phosphate induced vascular calcification in adenine-induced chronic renal failure rats. High phosphate environment causes elevated calcium accumulation with related histological changes and alkaline phosphatase activity in aorta. The chapter shows that disogenin attenuated CRF-induced impairment in acetylcholine induced endothelium-dependent and sodium nitroprusside induced endothelium-independent vascular relaxation. It describes the effects of disogenin on myocardial ischaemia- reperfusion injury and the potential involvement of mitochondrial KATP channel and nitric oxide system blockades in this field. The chapter explains the anti-tumor effects of dioscin from Paris chinensis and correlated mechanisms regarding apoptosis in human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells.
