Oleanolic acid attenuates hydrogen peroxide‐induced apoptosis of IPEC‐J2 cells through suppressing c‐Jun and MAPK pathway

Abstract Oleanolic acid (OA) is a natural triterpenoid with therapeutic potential for a multitude of diseases. However, the precise mechanism by which OA influences stress‐induced apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells remains elusive. Therefore, the effect of OA on intestinal diseases under stressful conditions and its possible mechanisms have been investigated. In a hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 )‐induced oxidative stress model, OA attenuated H 2 O 2 ‐induced apoptosis in a concentration‐dependent manner. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, the gene expression profile of OA on IPEC‐J2 cells was analyzed using an RNA sequencing system. Results from gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis confirmed that OA may mitigate the cytotoxic effects of H 2 O 2 by downregulating gene expression through the MAPK signaling pathway. Furthermore, Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction results validated the differentially expressed genes data. Western blot analysis further demonstrated that OA effectively suppressed the expression level of c‐Jun protein induced by H 2 O 2 in IPEC‐J2 cells. Collectively, our results indicate that OA pretreatment significantly attenuated H 2 O 2 ‐induced apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells through suppressing c‐Jun and MAPK pathway.