Inhibition Effect Of Rifampicin On Rotenon-induced Apoptosis In SH-SY5Y Cells

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common human neurodegenerative movement disorder. PD is neuropathologically characterized by a marked and progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.Rifampicin is a semi-synthetic derivative of the rifamycins, a class of antibiotics that are fermentation products of Nocardia mediterranei, is widely used in some countries for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy. An unexpected observation from epidemiological studies of leprosy patients was that those who had been treated with rifampicin or closely related drugs for several years have significantly lower probability of developing senile dementia. However the cytoprotective activity of rifampicin and its machanism have not been fully demonstrated yet.In the present study, to illustrate the inhibition effect of rifampicin on rotenon-induced apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells, SH-SY5Y cells were incubated with 100 nmol/L rotenon for 24 hours to induce cell apoptosis. Then rifampicin with different concentration was added respectively to each study group. After interaction for 24 hours, MTT assay was used to assess cell viability, Flow cytometry and TUNEL assay were used to detect cell apoptosis, RT-PCR and western blot was used to detect the expression of GAPDH andα-Synuclein. The results showed that rotenon can induce SH-SY5Y cell apoptosis and decrease cell vaibility. After rifampicin treatment, SH-SY5Y cell apoptosis induced by rotenon was inhibited and cell viability was recovered. Moreover, the inhibition effect of rifampicin was dose-dependent. These evidences indicated that rifampicin can inhibit the cell apoptosis induced by rotenon in SH-SY5Y cells, and the inhibitory effect of rifampin on cell apoptosis may be through the downregulation of GAPDH andα-Synuclein.