Abstract: AIM: To investigate the effects of ecdysterone (EDS) on injury and proliferation of endothelial cells caused by bloody cerebralspinal fluid (BCSF). METHODS: Rabbit brain microvessel endothelial cells (BmvECs) were divided into control group, BCSF group and EDS group, which were treated with DMEM, BCSF and both of BCSF and EDS (200 mg·L^-1), respectively. Morphological changes, cell counting, MTT assay, and flow cytometric analysis were used to evaluate the cytotoxic effects on BmvECs. RESULTS: BCSF could cause severe morphologic changes in BmvECs, decrease the OD of MTT assay and cell proportion of G0-G1 of BmvECs(P <0.01).EDS could alleviate these changes in BmvECs caused by BCSF. CONCLUSION: EDS has protective effects on the injury of BmvECs caused by BCSF, which suggests EDS may play a role in the therapy of CVS.

Key words: cerebral vasospasm, subarachnoid hemorrhage, endothelial cells, ecdysterone