Methylprednisolone Inhibits Autophagy of Vascular Endothelial Cells in Rat Femoral Head Via PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway.

Objective: To study the relationship between vascular endothelial cells (VEC) and autophagy, and its regulatory mechanism in steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (SANFH).

Methods: In cell experiment, VEC were isolated and cultured from the femoral head of Sprague-Dawley rats and divided into three groups: blank control group (Ctrl), methylprednisolone group (MP), and methylprednisolone+mTOR-shRNA group (MP + shmTOR). The autophagy formation was observed by transmission electron microscope.