The effect of glucose on expression of bcl-2 and bax gene in human peritoneal mesothelial cells

Objective To investigate the effect of glucose on expression of bcl-2 and bax gene in human peritoneal mesothelial cells. Methods The cultured human mesothelial cells were exposed to culture medium containing different concentrations of glucose (1.5%,2.5%,4.25%),4.25% mannitol and normal culture medium as control for 24 hours, then mRNA expression was measured by semi-quantitative reverse-transcript PCR. Results (l)The level of bax mRNA expression was significantly higher in 2.5% glucose group and 4.25 % glucose group than that in 1.5% glucose group, 4.25 % mannitol group and normal culture medium group respectively (P 0.05). Furthermore, glucose dose dependently stimulated the bax mRNA expression. (2)The level of bcl-2 mRNA expression was significantly lower in 2.5% glucose group and 4.25 % glucose group than that in 1.5% glucose group, 4.25% mannitol group and normal culture medium group respectively (P0.05). The level of bcl-2 mRNA expression was decreasing as glucose concentration increasing ( r = - 0.949, P 0.01) . Conclusion High glucose can up-regulate expression of bax and down-regulate expression of blc-2 in a concentration-dependent manner.