Microbes and infectionJul 1, 2023

Tanshinone IIA may protect against artery disease caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis by reducing harmful molecules and inflammation signals

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

Tanshinone IIA (TSA) at 60 mg/kg/d significantly reduced atherosclerotic lesions in P. gingivalis-infected ApoE-knockout mice.

TSA treatment led to significant decreases in reactive oxygen species (ROS), 8-OHdG, and oxidized LDL levels in the serum.
Mice treated with TSA showed reduced mRNA levels of COX-2, LOX-1, NOX2, and NOX4 in the aorta.
Decreased levels of NOX2, NOX4, and NF-κB were observed in TSA-treated mice, indicating reduced oxidative stress.
These findings suggest that TSA may mitigate oxidative stress and alleviate atherosclerosis linked to P. gingivalis infection.

Simplified

Tanshinone IIA (TSA), an active component isolated from Danshen, possess high medicinal values against atherosclerosis by reducing vascular oxidative stress, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and protecting the endothelium from damage. The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) has been proven to accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. We aim to determine the effects of TSA on P. gingivalis-induced atherosclerosis in ApoE-knockout (ApoE-/-) mice. After feeding with a high-lipid diet and infected with P. gingivalis three times per week for four weeks, TSA-treated (60 mg/kg/d) mice greatly inhibited atherosclerotic lesions both morphologically and biochemically and exhibited significantly reduction ROS, 8-OHdG, and ox-LDL levels in serum compared with P. gingivalis-infected mice. Additionally, TSA-treated mice were observed a marked reduction of ROS, 8-OHdG and ox-LDL in the serum, mRNA levels of COX-2, LOX-1, NOX2 and NOX4 in the aorta, as well as the levels of NOX2, NOX4, and NF-κB. These results suggest that TSA attenuates oxidative stress by decreasing NOX2 and NOX4 and downregulating NF-κB signaling pathway, which might be contributed to the amelioration of atherosclerosis.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

PubMed

Tanshinone IIA may protect against artery disease caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis by reducing harmful molecules and inflammation signals

Abstract

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Competing interests

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Abstract

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