Influence of Morphine on Pericyte-Endothelial Interaction: Implications for Antiangiogenic Therapy

Figure 1

Morphine stimulates PDGF-BB release from endothelial cells. PDGF-BB was analyzed in the cell culture supernatants of HUVEC incubated with different concentrations of morphine or PBS in serum- and growth factor-free medium for 48 h at 37°C. In parallel, serum- and growth factor-free medium was incubated in flasks without cells to serve as blank. A dose-dependent increase in PDGF-BB is seen between 0.1 and 1 μM morphine, whereas no statistically significant increase occurred with 1 mM morphine, as compared to PBS. Each bar is the mean ± SEM of three separate experiments from 3 different cultures of HUVEC.