Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of acetylpuerarin on the expression of Caspase-3 in BV-2 microglia induced by Aβ_25-35. Methods BV-2 microglia cells were activated with condensed Aβ_25-35 as Alzheimer's disease inflammatory cell model, which were then divided into 6 groups: control group, model group, Caspase-3 inhibitor (Z-DEVD-fmk) group and acetylpuerarin groups (low-dose group 0.1 μmol/L, moderate-dose group 0.4 μmol/L, high-dose group 1.6 μmol/L). Morphological changes of microglia cells were observed with an inverted phase contrast microscope, and the expression level of Caspase-3 protein in each group was detected by Western blotting. Results It was observed that Aβ_25-35 activated microglia from resting state into ameboid, and both Caspase-3 inhibitor and acetylpuerarin improved cell morphological changes induced by Aβ_25-35. Western blotting results showed that compared with the control group, the model group had significantly increased expression of Caspase-3 (P<0.01); compared with the model group, Caspase-3 inhibitor group and acetylpuerarin groups had markedly reduced expression of Caspase-3 (P<0.01); compared with Caspase-3 inhibitor group, acetylpuerarin low-dose and moderate-dose group had significantly increased expression of Caspase-3 (P<0.01), while acetylpuerarin high-dose group had no statistically significant difference. Conclusion Acetylpuerarin can inhibit activation of BV-2 microglia cells induced by Aβ_25-35. The mechanism may be related to decreased expression of Caspase-3, especially high-dose acetylpuerarin.

Key words: Alzheimer's disease, Acetylpuerarin, Caspase-3, Microglia, Western blotting, β-amyloid protein