Objective: To study the protective effective of specnuezhenide on glomerular mesangial cells suffering high glucose injury. Method: The effect of specnuezhenide on the cell vitality of cultured mice glomerular mesangial cells was measured with MTT method(n=6)

and the toxic concentrations were identified and excluded from the subsequent treatments. The glomerular mesangial cells were stimulated with high concentration glucose(25 mmol·L-1)to mimic diabetic nephropathy

and was administrated to cells were treated using specnuezhenide at dose of 100

50

25 μmol·L-1 for 48 hours. The cell apoptosis rate was measured with flow cytometry (n=10)

and the protein expressions of B cell lymphoma/leukmia-2(Bcl-2)

Bcl-2 associated X protein(Bax)

and cleaved-caspase 3 in glomerular mesangial cell were dectced with Western blot(n=3). Result: The high glucose significantly increased the apoptosis rate in glomerular mesangial cells (compared with the normal group

P<0.05)

and the protein expression levels of cleaved-caspase 3 and Bax and decreased expression of Bcl-2

resulting in a significant a decline in the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax. Specnuezhenide at doses of 100

50

25 μmol·L-1 significantly inhibited the high glucose-induced glomerular mesangial cells apoptosis

and significantly prevented the up-regulations of cleaved-caspase 3 and Bax and the decrease of Bcl-2 expression

thus increasing the Bcl-2/Bax ratio (P<0.05). And this effect showed a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusion: Specnuezhenide has a significant protective effect on high glucose-induced glomerular mesangial cell apoptosis

which may be related to its up-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and down-regulating with the inhibition of activation of caspase 3.