A STUDY OF PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF BAK FOONG PILLS ON APOPTOSIS OF HIPPOCAMPUS NEURONS INDUCED BY Aβ_(1-40)

Objective To study the protective effects of Bak Foong Pills(BFP) on apoptosis of cultured hippocampus neurons induced by Aβ1-40,and to explore the possible mechanism.MethodsNeurotoxicity was measured by MTT method among the cultured hippocampus neurons treated with Aβ1-40 in different concentrations(0.1 to 30 μmol/L).Certain concentration of Aβ1-40,which induced the excessive apoptosis of neurons,was determined.Meanwhile,BFP was applied to produce the anti-apoptosis effect.Apoptosis was manifested by TUNEL straining,and the expression levels of bcl-2,bax and caspase-3 were analyzed semi-quantitatively by RTPCR.ResultsSignificant neurotoxicity was observed after the neurons being incubated with 10 μmol/L Aβ1-40 for 24 h,and then the dose was determined in the study.Excessive apoptosis was observed among the neurons under the same condition,such as down-regulation of bcl-2 expression and up-regulation of bax expression.The apoptotic index(bcl-2/ bax) was reduced,too,which enhanced the expression of caspase-3.Combination of BFP with Aβ1-40 partially corrected the down-regulation of bcl-2 expression.The ratio of bcl-2/bax was increased and the expression of caspase-3 reduced.Conclusion The neuro-protection of BFP might be realized by blocking the apoptosis of hippocampus neurons induce by Aβ1-40,by modulating the ratio of bcl-2/bax and reducing the expression of caspase-3.