Quercetin as anticalcific agent in vascular disease.

Vascular calcifications (VC) are characterized by abnormal mineral depositions in the vessel wall and are frequently associated with specific diseases such as atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and diabetes [1,2]. No specific medical treatments are available in clinical practice; in terms of prevention, some natural compounds assumed through the diet or by integration with natural bioproducts, like Curcumin, Resveratrol, and Magnesium, have shown, in literature, the potential to inhibit the disease process in experimental models [3]. In addition to the specific evaluation of compounds on vascular cells and considering the peculiar environment where vascular cells live, continuously exposed to blood flow, a valuable approach for a more realistic and effective analysis is represented by in-vitro dynamic cell model systems that recapitulate the hemodynamic environment. In this work, we focused on the effects of Quercetin on a dynamic culture (250 ?l/min flow rate) of Human Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells (HCASMCs) using a double-flow bioreactor (LiveBox2, IVTech Srl, Massarosa, Italy). Our aim was to evaluate the anti-calcific (quantifying intracellular Ca2+) and anti-inflammatory (quantifying Interleukin 6 (IL-6)) effects of Quercetin, which, among the other natural compounds tested, resulted in the more interesting. HCASMCs were treated with a DMEM High Glucose supplemented with 1,9 mM phosphates solution (NaH2PO4/Na2HPO4) in the presence or absence of Quercetin 100 ?M for 7 days. At the end of the experiment, cells and media samples were collected. Intracellular Ca2+ and IL-6 resulted significantly decreased in HCASMCs cultured under calcifying conditions and treated with Quercetin for 7 days. These preliminary analyses highlighted the potential beneficial effect of a preventive assumption of Quercetin to contrast the calcific processes at vascular levels.