Abstract: AIM: To investigate the effect of picroside Ⅱ on apoptosis induced by glutamate. METHODS: After being treated with picroside Ⅱ and glutamate, the viability of PC12 cells was detected by MTT assays, and CDCFH was used to detect the reactive oxygen species (ROS).The apoptosis rate was measured by DNA fragmentation agarose gel electrophoresis;The expression of Bcl-2 was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Picroside Ⅱ could significantly protect PC12 cells from the apoptosis induced by glutamate, increase cell survival rate, decrease the level of intracellular ROS and upregulate Bcl-2 protein expression. CONCLUSION: The underlying mechanisms may be involved in the inhibition or decreasing of ROS formation, and increasing the expression of Bcl-2.

Key words: picroside Ⅱ, glutamate, PC12 cells, oxidative stress