ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the chronic effect of palmitic acid (PA) on apoptosis of pancreatic islet beta-cells and the possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Insulinoma cell line (MIN6 cells) were used in this study. After being incubated in PA (0.1 - 1.6 mml/L) for 24 and 48 hours, MTT method was used to evaluate the livability. After being incubated for 48 h, Hoechst-PI and Annexin-V-FTTC/PI FACS were used to estimate the apoptosis in each group, Western-blotting assay was used to estimate the protein level of p-Akt, Akt, Bax and Bcl-2.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Chronic PA dose-dependently (1) decreased the availability and increased the apoptosis of MIN6 cells; (2) decreased the phosphorylation of Akt and Bcl-2, but had no significant effects on Akt and Bax.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Chronic PA dose-dependently induced apoptosis of MIN6 cells, and this effect was possibly regulated by Akt/Bcl-2.</p>