Curcumin improves atherosclerosis by inhibiting the epigenetic repression of lncRNA MIAT to miR-124.

Atherosclerosis is a dominant cardiovascular disease. Curcumin has protective effect on atherosclerosis. However, the mechanisms remain to be explored. Atherosclerosis was induced by feeding mice with high-fat diet (HFD) and ox-low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were structured. Oil Red O staining was used to evaluate the plaques in the artery. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to detect the level of myocardial infarction associated transcript (MIAT), miR-124, and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2). We performed western blotting and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay to examine the expression of EZH2 and cytokines including IL-1β, TNFα, IL-6, and IL-8, respectively. RNA immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) were used to validate the interaction between myocardial infarction associated transcript and EZH2. Flow cytometry and CCK-8 assay were used to examine cell apoptosis and proliferation, respectively. Curcumin suppressed inflammation in atherosclerosis mouse model and ox-LDL-induced cell model. MIAT overexpression and miR-124 inhibition relieved the anti-inflammation effect of curcumin in ox-LDL-induced cell. MIAT regulated miR-124 by interacting with EZH2. Curcumin relieved ox-LDL-induced cell inflammation via regulating MIAT/miR-124 pathway. MIAT/miR-124 axis mediated the effect of curcumin on atherosclerosis and altered cell apoptosis and proliferation, both and . These data further support the application of curcumin in control of atherosclerosis advancement.