ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) on early-stage apoptosis in steonecrosis of rabbit femoral head .Methods The 24 rabbits were randomly divided into three groups :normal control group ,model group ,and PNS group .In model group ,equine serum (10 mL/kg) and methylprednisolone (40 mg/kg) were injected alternatively to induce osteonecrosis of the femoral head .In PNS group ,PNS (50 mg/kg , i .v .) was administered continuously before methylprednisolone management .In control group ,the rabbits were fed routinely .TUNEL method was used to detect apoptotic cells .Caspase-3 activity in the femoral head was measured by caspase-3 assay kit . Immunohistochemistry method and Western blot analysis were applied to detect the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax .Results In model group ,typical appearance of apoptotic cells was observed in the femoral head by TUNEL staining (P< 0 .05) .PNS treatment significantly inhibited cell apoptosis of the femoral head in model group .Furthermore ,pretreatment with PNS significantly reversed the inhibition of Bcl-2 expression , augmentation of Bax expression and caspase-3 activity ( P< 0 .05 ) . Conclusion PNS could up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2 ,down-regulate that of Bax ,reduce the activity of caspase-3 ,and inhibit cell apoptosis of the femoral head .