title: Ameliorative effect of betulinic acid on oxidative damage and apoptosis in the splenocytes of dexamethasone treated mice.
abstract: Betulinic acid (BA) is a bioactive pentacyclic triterpene that exhibits a variety of biological activities including antioxidative and immunomodulative properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential splenocytes protective effect and underlying mechanism of BA using dexamethasone (Dex)-induced mice as a model system. Pretreatment with BA (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg) dose-dependently ameliorated Dex-induced oxidative damage and apoptosis after 14 days of feeding. In addition to reactive oxygen species scavenging activity in Dex-induced splenocytes, BA administration up-regulated antioxidant enzymes, decreased lipid peroxidation, restored mitochondrial function, decreased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, prevented the decline of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, inhibited caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, and improved cell survival. These findings reveal that BA was able to mitigate Dex-induced oxidative stress and might play an important role in repairs of oxidative damage in immunological system.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha City 410128, China. Electronic address: yijine@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha City 410128, China.
authors.forename: Ruocen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha City 410128, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, 4-10 Ag/For Center, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G2P5, Canada.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha City 410128, China. Electronic address: ztandao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zhuliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014315:Triterpenes; D003907:Dexamethasone; D053148:Caspase 3; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
keywords: Apoptosis; Betulinic acid; Dexamethasone; Oxidative stress; Splenocytes