Abstract: Objective To investigate the anti-atherosclerosis mechanism of Astragalus mongholicus polysaccharides (APS) by
examining its effect on gene expression profiles of the dendritic cells (DCs) from healthy donors. Methods Peripheral blood
DCs from healthy donors were incubated with 200 mg/L APS overnight, and changes in the gene expression profiles were
investigated using microarray technique and RT-PCR. Result Compared with the control cells, APS-treated DCs showed
significantly up-regulated expressions of CD36 (0.97±0.23 vs 5.45±1.14) and IL-27 (1.08±0.22 vs 2.97±0.61) and down-regulated
expression of expression of IFI16 (0.98±0.18 vs 0.46±0.11). Conclusion APS can promote the maturation and differentiation of
DCs by up-regulating CD36 and IL-27 and down-regulating IFI16, and thus positively affects the occurrence and progression
of the atherosclerosis.