RESUMEN
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of paeonol on amyloid beta1-42 (Abeta1-42)-induced neurotoxicity and its mechanism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Hippocampal neurons of well-grown newborn SD rats and differentiated SH-SY5Y cell lines were cultured with various concentrations of paeonol (1, 5, 10 micromol x L(-1), respectively) for 6 hours and then incubated with Abeta1-42 oligomer (30 micromol x L(-1)) for 24 hours and 48 hours, respectively. The neuron apoptosis was observed by Heochst33258. Annexin V/PI double stain flow cytometry assay was adopted for determining SH-SY5Y cell apoptosis rate. And the expression of BDNF and Bcl-2 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with the model group, various concentrations of paeonol (1, 5, 10 micromol x L(-1)) significantly reduced the hippocampal neurons karyopycnosis, decreased the rate of SH-SY5Y cell apoptosis to 22.4%, 18.1% and 16.4%, respectively, and improved the expressions of BDNF and Bcl-2 mRNA.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Paeonol relieves Abeta1-42 oligomer-induced neuron injury by increasing BDNF and Bcl-2 expressions.</p>