Figure 4From: Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase by metformin protects human coronary artery endothelial cells against diabetic lipoapoptosiseNOS and p38 MAPK, but not ROS levels, are involved in the protective effect of metformin. Cells were incubated for 24 h in the presence or absence of palmitate (125 μM), with or without metformin (500 μM), L-NAME (1 mM), SB203580 (10 μM), SP600125 (5 μM), AICAR (200 μM), Compound C (10 μM) or vehicle. (A) Metformin protects cells from lipoapoptosis, an effect that is lost upon co-incubation with L-NAME but is mimicked by SB203580 and SP600125. (B) 25 μM of carboxy-H2DCFDA was added to each well for 30 min and ROS levels were subsequently measured. Bars represent mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05 vs. control, # p < 0.05 vs. palmitate with Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance on ranks. n = 4 (A), n = 3 (B).Back to article page