en Other Other Original Article Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and E-selectin (SELE) are consistently expressed in the vascular endothelium. Several evidence support the crucial role of adhesion molecules in the development of atherosclerosis and plaque instability. Due to the anti-inflammatory activity of <em>Tribulus terrestris</em> (TT), the present study investigated the effect of aqueous extract and saponin fraction of TT on the expression of <em>ICAM-1</em>, <em>VCAM-1</em>, and <em>SELE</em> genes in endothelial cells during normal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced conditions. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMEC) were cultured, stimulated by LPS, and treated with aqueous extract and saponin fraction of TT. Finally, the expression of <em>ICAM-1, VCAM-1</em>, and<em> SELE</em> genes were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. LPS-induced HUVECs and HBMECs significantly increased the expression of <em>ICAM-1</em>, <em>VCAM-1</em>, and <em>SELE</em> in comparison with control groups (P<0.001). Treatment of LPS-induced HUVECs and HBMECs by aqueous extract and saponin fraction of TT decreased the expression of all three mentioned genes significantly (P<0.001) in comparison with LPS-induced cells. Taken together, our data suggest that TT has an anti-inflammatory effect. <em>In vivo</em> study about anti-inflammatory effect of this herb may provide new insights into the development of a herbal drug for the prevention/therapy of atherosclerosis.</div> Atherosclerosis, Tribulus terrestris L., gene expression, adhesion molecules, human endothelial cells, saponin 73 82 http://ijmcmed.org/browse.php?a_code=A-10-176-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Zahra Fereydouni zahra.freydouni808@gmail.com 100319475328460017828 100319475328460017828 No Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Elahe Amirinezhad Fard elahe.amirinejad92@gmail.com 100319475328460017829 100319475328460017829 No Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Kamran Mansouri kmansouri@kums.ac.ir 100319475328460017830 100319475328460017830 No Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Hamid-Reza Mohammadi Motlagh mohammadimotlagh@gmail.com 100319475328460017831 100319475328460017831 No Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Ali Mostafaie amostafaie@kums.ac.ir 100319475328460017832 100319475328460017832 Yes Medical Biology Research Center, Health Technology Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.