Pravastatin Inhibits Apoptosis of Primary Rat Nucleus Pulposus Cells by Reducing ROS Production via Activating Autophagy

Wang Xiaoying1, Jiao Liyan1, Fu Zhian1, Wang Yanhua2*

1Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, China; 2Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Hebei University of Engineering, Han Dan 056002, China

Abstract: Dexamethasone (DXM) injection can partially relieve the symptoms of low back pain caused by intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD)， but the DXM has some side effects. Pravastatin has been found to relieve inflammation and symptoms of osteoarthritis， however， its role in nucleus pulposus (NP) and IDD remains unclear. In this study， primary nucleus pulposus cells of SD rats were collected and cultured. NP cells were treated with different concentrations of dexamethasone DXM for 48 h， and then DCFH-DA and MitoSOX Red staining were used to analyze the production of total reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial ROS. Annexin V/PI and DAPI staining were used to detect the apoptotic levels. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) was used to inhibit ROS production. The expression of autophagy-related proteins including LC3-II， Beclin-1， and

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2019.01.0006