Human urine kininogenase attenuates balloon-induced intimal hyperplasia in rabbit carotid artery through transforming growth factor β1/Smad2/3 signaling pathway

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting is increasingly being used for the treatment of atherosclerotic stenosis. However, effective treatments against restenosis after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting are largely lacking. Human tissue kallikrein gene transfer has been shown to be able to attenuate neointima formation induced by balloon catheter. In this study, we adopted a well-established model to investigate the influence of human urinary kininogenase (HUK), as a tissue kallikrein in vivo, on atherosclerosis and stenosis in rabbit carotid artery after balloon injury. Our results indicated that HUK attenuated proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells and inhibited intimal hyperplasia. HUK may be a potential therapeutic agent to prevent stenosis after vascular injury.