title: Ginsenoside Rb1 protects rat retinal ganglion cells against hypoxia and oxidative stress.
abstract: The current study was designed to investigate the effect of ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) on apoptosis induced by hypoxia and oxidative stress in a retinal ganglion cell line (RGC-5). The underlying mechanism was also investigated. RGC-5 cells were pretreated with 10 µmol/l Rb1 for 24 h and exposed to 400 µmol/l cobalt chloride (CoCl2) for 48 h or 600 µmol/l H2O2 for 24 h. The percentage of cells actively undergoing apoptosis was determined by ﬂow cytometry with Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) double staining. The expression of caspases was determined using western blot analysis. CoCl2 and H2O2 treatments significantly increased the apoptotic percentages to 24.5 and 21.63%, respectively. Pretreatment of Rb1 reduced the total apoptotic percentages to 15.12 and 12.03%, respectively. The expression of cleaved caspase-3, -9 and -8 was increased in the CoCl2-treated group, however, caspase-3 was not increased in the H2O2-treated group. Pretreatment of Rb1 reduced the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and -9 in the CoCl2-treated group, but reduced only cleaved caspase-9 in the H2O2-treated group. These results suggest that Rb1 may prevent RGC-5 cells from apoptosis against hypoxia and oxidative stress via the mitochondrial pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Zhongshan Medical College, Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhaochun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Juying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wendong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Yongfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Banghao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003035:Cobalt / Q000494:pharmacology; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016877:Oxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D036145:Ginsenosides; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D016877:Oxidants; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003035:Cobalt; C442759:ginsenoside Rb1; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; C018021:cobaltous chloride