Abstract： Objective To explore the effect of ghrelin on the injury of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) induced by advanced glycation end products (AGE).Methods The HUVECs were isolated and cultured in vitro,exposed to AGE-bovine serum albumin (BSA) with a terminal concentration of 200 mg/L for 24 or 48h with or without pretreatment with ghrelin for 24 h.The cells were divided into serum free group,different concentrations of ghrelin group (0.01,0.1,1 and 10 μmol/L),different concentrations of ghrelin (0.01,0.1,1 and 10 μmol/L) + AGE-BSA group,and AGE-BSA group;48 h after treatment with AGE-BSA,the cell viabilities were measured by thiazolyl blue assays.The cells were divided into serum free group,different concentrations of ghrelin (0.01,0.1,1 and 10 μmol/L) + AGE-BSA group,and AGE-BSA group.48 h after treatment with AGE-BSA,the cell apoptosis was measured by Annexin V-FITC/PI binding assays.The cells were divided into serum free group,AGE-BSA group and ghrelin (1 μmol/L) + AGE-BSA group.24 h after treatment with AGE-BSA,the cell ultrastructure was observed by electron microscopy.The cells were divided into serum free group,ghrelin(1 μmol/L) group,AGE-BSA group and ghrelin(1 μmol/L) + AGE-BSA group;the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells was measured.Results In different concentrations of ghrelin group,ghrelin promoted cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner,with remarkable differences of viability between 0.1,1,10 μmol/L ghrelin group and serum free group [(109 ± 18) ％,(113 ± 15) ％,(115 ± 14) ％ vs (100 ± 11) ％,all P ＜ 0.05].The reduction of cell viability induced by AGE-BSA was inhibited by ghrelin pretreatment in a dose-dependent manner,with significant differences of viability between 1,10 μmol/L ghrelin + AGE-BSA group and AGE-BSA group [(87 ± 18) ％,(97 ± 19) ％,vs (45 ± 10) ％,P ＜ 0.05].The quantity of apoptosis cells was significantly inhibited by 0.1,1,10 μmol/L ghrelin pretreatment in a dose-dependent manner [(14.7 ±9.5)％,(5.2±1.9)％,(4.5 ±2.1)％ vs (19.4±5.3)％,P＜0.05].Under electron microscopy,the number of apoptosis cells was increased with cell nucleus condensed or fragmented and with mitochondria flocculent in AGE-BSA group,which could be improved significantly in ghrelin + AGE-BSA group.The ROS level was lower in ghrelin group (0.75 ± 0.07) and was higher in AGE-BSA group (1.50 ± 0.17) compared with that in serum free group (1.00 ±0.10);the ROS level in ghrelin + AGE-BSA group (1.10 ±0.14) was significantly lower than that in AGE-BSA group (all P ＜0.01).Conclusion Ghrelin can inhibit the apoptosis and ROS induced by AGE in HUVECs.