Protective effect of gross saponin tribulus terrestris on apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by H_2O_2

Objective To investigate the protective effect of gross saponin tribulus terrestris(GSTT) on the apoptosis of pheochromocytoma cells(PC12 cells)induced by H2O2 and its mechanisms.Methods PC12 cells were divided into control,model,high dose GSTT(GSTT1) and low dose GSTT(GSTT2) groups.Apoptosis of PC12 cells was induced by H2O2 at the concentration of 300μ mmol·L-1.The cell activity was determined by MTT.The subdiploid peaks showing cell apoptosis rate and Ψm were detected by flow cytometry.Proteins of Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with model group,the survival rate of PC12 increased(P0.001),the apoptotic rate and protein expression of Bax decreased(P0.01),and the Ψm and protein expression of Bcl-2 increased with the raise of GSTT dose(P0.05).Conclusion GSTT can inhibit the apoptosis of PC12 induced by H2O2 which might be correlated with the inhibition of apoptosis in the path of mitochondrion.