3.1 Heat stress and LPS induced damage and degradation of
endothelial glycocalyx
Glycocalyx content Given previous study suggesting the importance
of HSPG in accessing the content of endothelial glycocalyx,21 HPSG expression was firstly investigated in HPMEC
among 4 groups under heat stress and LPS. Stimulation of heat stress and
LPS decreased HSPG expression compared with those in CON group (P< 0.05) (Figure 1A~C ), as indicated
by immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry. Interestingly, HSPG
expression was higher in HSPG group whereas lower in UFH group than that
in HS+LPS group (P < 0.05) (Figure
1A~C ). These results indicated that heat stroke
decreased the content of endothelial glycocalyx, which glycocalyx damage
was attenuated by UFH.
Levels of glycocalyx degradation products Considering that SDC-1
and heparin sulfate were identified as the classical degraded products
of endothelial glycocalyx, 22 we, therefore, evaluated
the expression of them. The results suggested that the expressions of
SDC-1 and heparin sulfate were significantly lower in CON group than
that in others (P < 0.05) (Figure 1D ).
Interestingly, UFH may prevent endothelial glycocalyx from degrading as
evidenced by the lower expression in UFH group compared with HS+LPS and
HPSE groups (P < 0.05). These results revealed that
heat stress and LPS may induce endothelial glycocalyx degradation in
HPMEC, which showed a positive correlation with the degree of glycocalyx
damage.